Karl Witkowski (1860-1910) Karl Witkowski, an Austrian-born portraitist who trained under Jan Matejko in Poland, grew famous in the United States for his deceptively simple depictions of cherubic youth. Witkowski shows great attention to his subjects as he seeks to capture fleeting moments of innocence in the eyes of rural children. His roots as a classically trained academic painter serve to endow his portraits with a depth and texture unmatched by Americana painters. As a result, Witkowski was chosen to exhibit at the National Academy of Design during his later years spent living in New Jersey. Witkowski's "Isaak Walton Junior" is a delightful and unaccustomed departure from his fictional children and genre subjects. In this work he illustrates an invented childhood version of the seventeenth century British literary master. Witkowski's depiction reveals the sheer bliss of childhood as Walton, enveloped in perfect contentment, sits under a tree on a sunny country afternoon. Witkowski paints with crisp detail and care in every brush stroke, a testament to his skill as a master painter.