Maksymilian Cercha (1818–1907), whose life was linked to Kraków, was born in an assimilated Italian family and is known as a drawer, cataloguer of gravestones in the churches of Kraków and a co-author of a publication titled the Monuments of Kraków. In this paper however, his Tatra-themed paintings are discussed, which are yet to be included in the Art History. Cercha was Jan Nepomucen Głowacki’s student, who established Tatra mountains themed landscape painting in Kraków. In the summertime, he used to take his students to the Tatra mountains where he would rent an inn in Stare Kościelisko for an atelier.
Cercha painted his Tatra landscapes in the period from 1849 to 1860. These are:
–– Morskie Oko, oil on cardboard (31 x 23 cm), 1849;
–– View from Mała Łąka, oil on canvas (38 x 31 cm), 1853;
–– Mill in Chochołów, oil on cardboard (22 x 28 cm), 1853;
–– Sucha Woda Valley as seen from Brzeziny, oil on cardboard (32 x 26 cm), 1857;
–– View of the Giewont mountain, oil on cardboard (23 x 30 cm), c. 1860;
–– “Carpathians”, watercolour (22 x 14), 1860.
Except View from Mała Łąka, held by the Tatra Museum in Zakopane, all pictures belong to the family. Moreover, there are three pencil on paper drawings depicting Zakopane and Hamry from the period of 1855–1857 held by the National Museum in Kraków.
Cercha, modelling on Głowacki, used to oil paint on cardboard by firstly sketching on location and then finishing the picture back in Kraków. He used to replicate the themes drew out by Głowacki, such as the view of Morskie Oko lake. He continued the Cracovian tradition of Tatra landscape painting, whic, thanks to Głowacki, Franz Steinfeld the Younger’s student, derives from the Austrian landscape painting of Biedermeier period.