Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski (1849 Suwałki - 1915 Munich), Merry Ride

oil, canvas, 62 × 48 cm
Signed p. d.: "A Wierusz-Kowalski"

On the reverse, stamp of a Munich art store: "R. Wurm/ München"

Accompanying the painting is an expert opinion by Eliza Ptaszynska, dated 2022.

"(...) never before has the Polish landscape and the Polish peasantry been treated with such casual confidence and ponderous bravura as in the colorful and captivating canvases of Alfred Wierusz Kowalski."
C. Jellenta, "Galerya Latter Days. Images, Partitions, Ideas," Krakow 1897, p. 291

"And here I saw great talent. There was character in these paintings, there was a lot of life."
Olga Boznańska on Wierusz-Kowalski's paintings, October 1938, A. Nowaczyński, "U Olgi Boznańskiej w Paryżu", "Tygodnik Ilustrowany" 1938, no. 42, p. 806.

Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, considered one of the most prominent representatives of the Polish circle of artists active in Munich, despite more than 40 years spent in Bavaria, painted primarily paintings set in his native landscapes. He often returned to his favorite subjects - which brought him incredible success with the rest - creating different takes on similar arrangements and motifs, genre scenes and small episodes from the everyday life of the inhabitants of the Polish countryside and provincial towns.
Wierusz-Kowalski's work, presented at auction, impresses with its animation, freedom and carefree fantasy. Hoza, the beaming girl in the foreground, leads a horse-drawn carriage through a scenery filled with summer air and maintained in yellows. In the background, treated by Vierusz in a very "modern", even impressionistic way, a second carriage is visible, with two men following the first vehicle. The movement of the carriage driven by the foreground heroine and the anatomy of the animals - the horse and dogs in the foreground were presented masterfully by the artist. The entire composition seems to be bursting with sunlight - it is teeming with life, until it is brimming with dynamic brushstrokes, expressive texture, vibrancy of colors, bravura in capturing movement.
Eliza Ptaszyńska, the best-known monographer of Wierusz-Kowalski in her opinion notes that "Merry Ride" is a display of the author's workshop skills and his color sensitivity. The compositional talent found expression in the construction of the show and its psychological coherence. The leisurely, skilled woman driving the horse gushes with joy and exudes confidence. The momentum of the carriage brakes the twist of the horse's head, leaning in the opposite direction toward the two dogs running alongside the cart. The perspective shortcuts used here add dynamism and expression to the depiction. They are balanced and calmed by horizontal lines, such as the fence and the horizon, and the depicted boundlessness of the halves. (...)
"Merry Ride" can be counted among the exceptionally thoughtful performances. Both in terms of composition and color, every detail and formal means used have their justification. The painting draws attention to the freshness of the approach to the subject, the freedom of painting, the consistency of the handling of the artistic technique. The image of a young peasant girl, carelessly speeding along a sandy road, must have aroused the admiration of lovers of the artist's work already at the time when it was created. There are several versions that are very similar to each other. (...) This in no way takes away from the value of the work, which is worthy of the highest admiration. The good state of preservation of the painting, the absence of traces of repainting and conservation intervention, and the unquestionable signature raise its significance." (excerpt from Eliza Ptaszynska's expert opinion on the presented painting, dated 24.10.2022)