Aniela Pająkówna
Polish, 1864-1912
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Aniela Pająkówna was a Polish painter, mother of Stanisława Przybyszewska.
She was born into the family of a coachman, and thanks to his employers, Helena and Mieczysław Pawlikowski, she was able to study, initially in Krakow, and from 1886 in Paris, including at the Académie Julian and the Académie Colarossi. She also studied in Munich.
In 1891, she returned from Paris to Lviv, where she set up her own studio. She made her debut at the exhibition of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Lviv in 1886. From the following year, she began exhibiting at the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Krakow. She also participated in the first exhibition of the Association of Polish Women Artists in Sukiennice in 1899. She also exhibited abroad, including at the Künstlerhaus in Vienna (1897), in Paris at the Salon Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and from 1909 at the Salon des Indépendants.
In Lviv, she met Stanisław Przybyszewski when he came to give a lecture on Chopin. She already knew Przybyszewski from Helena Pawlikowska's letters. Przybyszewski began to visit Pająkownia's studio, confiding in her about his troubles and complaining about his lack of money. A romance developed between them, even though Przybyszewski was four years younger and already married. The relationship resulted in a daughter, Stanisława, who was born on October 1, 1901, in Krakow. Having an illegitimate child resulted in Pająkówna's social and professional exclusion, and consequently, financial difficulties.
In 1907, Aniela Pająkówna left Lviv with her daughter and moved to Vienna, then to Zurich and Munich, finally settling in Paris in 1909. She died alone in France on April 24, 1912, of pneumonia.
