Antoni Murzynowski

Antoni Murzynowski carried a paintbrush like a daily habit, the way others carry a wallet. He painted real people—poets, bishops, even his own face—in the same soft, dim light that filled Warsaw studios in the 1800s. Look at his “Self-portrait” from 1883 where every brushstroke feels like a quiet confession instead of a show-off. That one piece is your door in; once you see it, Warsaw’s 19th-century ateliers suddenly feel alive.