He was born in
Olsztyn to the owner of a textile factory, but was orphaned at an early age and raised by the local postmaster. At the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed to
Józef Kosiński, who had been a
court painter for King
Stanisław II August. He remained in Warsaw until 1809, when he moved to
Dresden, where he studied with the Austrian painter,
Josef Grassi. Upon returning to Warsaw in 1815, he became curator of the plaster casts and drawing teacher of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the
University of Warsaw. In 1819, he was appointed a professor. After the university was closed in 1831, he gave private lessons and did restorative work. His most notable portraits are those of
Abraham Stern,
Stanisław Kostka Potocki and General Jan Teodor Kobylański (1777–1851). Among his best known students were
Rafał Hadziewicz,
Jan Feliks Piwarski,
Antoni Brodowski and
January Suchodolski. Blank died in 1844, in Warsaw. ==References==