Aleksander Orłowski (9 March 1777 – 13 March 1832) was a Polish painter and sketch artist, and a pioneer of lithography in the Russian Empire. Life Orłowski was born in 1777 in Warsaw into an impoverished noble family, his father was a tavern-keeper. In early childhood he became known as a prodigy, and soon Izabela Czartoryska financed his first painting classes with the artist Jan Piotr Norblin. In 1793 Orłowski joined the Polish Army and fought in the Kościuszko Uprising against Imperial Russia and Prussia; he was wounded and returned to Warsaw for further studies, financed by Prince Józef Poniatowski. He studied with many notable painters of the age, including Norblin, Marcello Bacciarelli and Wincenty Lesserowicz. In 1802, after the Partitions of Poland, he moved to Saint Petersburg, where he became a pioneer of lithography. He died there, aged fifty-five. His works include countless sketches of everyday life in Poland and Russia, and scenes from the Kościuszko Uprising and other Polish wars. Aleksander Orłowski is mentioned in , a poem written by Adam Mickiewicz in 1834, as well as in Alexander Pushkin's works. Sources Bogusław Mucha, Artyści polscy w nowożytnej Rosji, Łódź 1994, Ludwik Bazylow, Polacy w Petersburgu, Wrocław 1984, "Aleksander Orłowski" from Tygodnik Ilustrowany #34 (19 May 1860) @ Polona External links Biography, with paintings, drawings and graphic works by Orłowski @ Malarze 1777 births 1832 deaths 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian painters 18th-century male artists 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists 18th-century painters from the Russian Empire Russian male painters 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire Polish lithographers Polish printmakers Artists from the Russian Empire Painters from the Russian Empire Kościuszko insurgents Artists from Warsaw 19th-century lithographers Polish male painters