Józef Marian Chełmoński (7 November 1849 – 6 April 1914) was a Polish painter of the realist school with roots in the historical and social context of the late Romantic period in partitioned Poland.

He is famous for monumental paintings now at the Sukiennice National Art Gallery in Kraków and at the MNW in Warsaw.

[1] Chełmoński was born in the village of Boczki near Łowicz in central Congress Poland under the Russian military control.

His first drawing teacher was his father Józef Adam (a small leaseholder and administrator of Boczki village).

In 1872 and 1874 Chełmoński visited the Polish Territories (Poland, as an independent country, did not exist during this time), Tatra Mountains and Ukraine.