Watercolor, paper; 74 x 40.5 cm (light frame);
Signed, dated and described p. d.: Jul Fałat / Abbazia 1911.
This portrait of Pawel Kochanski (1887-1934) was painted during the painter and violinist 's stay in Istria in the then capital of the "Austrian Riviera" - Abbazi (Opatija) in 1911. At the time Kochanski was a young violin virtuoso standing at the peak of his career, rotating in thecompany of the most prominent figures of the art world of the time. His closest friends were Artur Rubinstein, Karol Szymanowski and Stanisław Witkiewicz. In 1924 he moved to the United States , where he settled permanently by becoming a lecturer at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.
The year the watercolor was created, in 1911, Kochanski married Zofia Kohn, daughter of the well-known Warsaw lawyer Jozef Leon Kohn. As a wedding present, her father-in-law gave the young musician aunique gift - a 1717 Stradivarius violin. Considering thecircumstances of the portrait's creation, in Istria where Kochanski most likely stayed with his wife on theirhoneymoon, the musician is depicted in the watercolor with his beloved Stradivarius. The unique instrument has gone down in history ,retaining the name of its illustrious owner as "Kochanski," and iscurrently in the
in the possession of violin virtuoso Pierre Amoyal.
Accompanying the painting is a certificate of authenticity issued by Adam Konopacki's Art-Consultant Agency.
