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Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski (1849 Suwałki - 1915 Munich), Wolves attacking the sledge (Atakujące wilki)

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Lot description Show orginal version
Estimations: 74 566 - 85 219 EUR
oil, cardboard, 32 × 54 cm
Signed p. d.: "A.Wierusz-Kowalski"

Provenance
- purchase at auction at Lempertz auction house, 1996.
- purchase at auction at Rempex auction house, 1997.

Attached to the painting is an expert opinion of Ms. Eliza Ptaszyńska (expert and author of many publications devoted to the work of Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, curator of the District Museum in Suwałki in possession of an extensive collection of "Wieruszians").

"Usually a winter night, the mad rush of the sleigh, the buckled horses, crazed with fear, tear what spirit in their chests through the bushes. In the sleigh, someone with a demented eye clenches a shortbow in his hand, there further on some kind of beast rolls in, dyeing the snow with sweat. As a whole - not a trivial juxtaposition of people, horses and wolves, but an essential, down to earth sensed drama where death and life are at stake, rendered with astonishing freedom, truth and variety of variants of one and the same idea. The paintings were wildly successful, and were bought by rich Germans and especially Americans and Englishmen."
E. Niewiadomski, "Malarstwo polskie XIX i XX wieku", Warsaw 1926, p. 182.

"Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski was an avid hunter, from childhood constantly communing with nature. He made animals for his needs into dangerous beasts. At the same time, he recognized and appreciated their strength, determination and intelligence as worthy opponents of man in the struggle for life. For this reason, their images often began (...) to appear on his canvases."
E. Ptaszyńska, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski 1849-1915, Warsaw 2011, p. 132.

In the 1880s, wolf attack scenes became Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski's calling card. "He returned to this subject many times, always approaching the work with equal solidity." (E. Ptaszyńska, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski 1849-1915, Warsaw 2011, p. 132). The painting presented at the auction, "Wolves attacking sleds," is one of the great examples of the artist's favorite subject.
Marian Trzebinski, a painter also associated with Munich, described Wierusz-Kowalski's Bavarian studio in his memoirs as follows: "The studio was spacious. One wall was covered by a huge painting called Attack of the Wolves. On the floor stood several easels, and on them in magnificent frames were paintings that had already been finished, near the door was a stuffed wolf, and under the walls were a dozen or so paintings that had been started" (M. Trzebinski, Pamiętnik malarza, Wrocław 1958, p. 80). So Kowalski had at his disposal in Munich an ideal stuffed model for his depictions. But the artist also painted animals from nature. He had a kennel of Anglo-Arabian horses at his estate in Mikorzyn, and had his own wolves there as well. Barbara Nasierowska, the artist's granddaughter, recalled that "among other things, a special room and paddocks were built for the wolves. There were six wolves, including two that he received as a gift from German Kaiser Wilhelm." (B. Nasierowska, Family Memories, [in:] On Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski... Suwałki 2000, p. 21)

The theme of wolves attacking travelers in sledges was extracted by the artist from his own memories. As a young boy he experienced a chilling story - during a trip with his family, eight-year-old Alfred fell victim to an attack by these animals. Thus, the escape, the moment just before the attack of the pack or the first moments of the fight were among the frequently recurring motifs in many variations in the artist's work. In the work on display, the dramatic scene does not exude blood or brutality. It leaves its finale to the viewer's conjecture. The man in Wierusz Kowalski's wolf attacks does not become a victim, but a fierce opponent of a pack of hungry wolves. The artist, whose works were admired for their almost photographic realism, was in fact described as a romantic - a man defying the menacing beasts is the epitome of an individual's struggle against powerful and hostile forces. The contrast between the drama of the depiction and the beauty of the surrounding world gives a special character to the scenes of assaults. Vierusz often painted them in the glare of a wintry but sunny day or the harsh rays of a setting sun, causing a rift between the dynamism and horror of the situation and the painterly beauty of the landscape.

Eliza Ptaszyńska, a researcher of Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski's works, writes in her opinion about the presented painting as follows: "Scenes of wolves attacking sledges are an important motif in the works of Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski. They, along with images of lone wolves, have become his most recognizable compositions. The representation scheme is usually the same, and this applies to almost all of the painter's work. (...) The painting described here bears all the hallmarks of Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski's painting, starting with the subject - an icon of his work - that is, the scene depicting a wolf attack on a sledge. (...) Also characteristic of him is the use of strong perspective abbreviations, which dynamize and dramatize the representation. In the case of the analyzed painting, the author abandoned their use in showing the speeding sledges. He made use of them when painting the silhouettes of the wolves. The shotgun, which the riding man is holding, is pointed towards the wolf lying on its back. The slant defined by it crosses the representational surface, going beyond the space of the painting, entering the plane of the viewer. This is a procedure the painter likes to use in his works, and the aim is to make the scene more expressive, to make a greater impression on the viewer. This is only an apparent contradiction. In his compositions, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski carefully balanced the balance between drama, the power of impact on the viewer and the sense of comfort of the observer, the scene unfolding on the canvas. Characteristic of Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski's painting is the way of painting, that is, the clear duct of the brush, the wide and free gesture of its guidance, the bravura and speed of painting, the temperament expressed in the unobvious, often incompatible with the logic of representation, guidance of the brush in the bottom layers of painting. (...) The artist's treatment of snow in the foreground is significant. It was painted impasto, using a broad, often half-dry brush or spatula. (...) Representative of Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski's painting is its narrative nature. The artist builds the composition in such a way that the viewer, in his imagination, adds the earlier and further course of events. This treatment introduces a fourth dimension in the painter's work - time. This is also the case in this work. The falling wolf, the gun folded after the shot, the puff of snow behind the sleigh, the pair of wolves courting the frightened horse trigger the viewer's imagination."
Bibliography (selected):
- E. Ptaszyńska, "Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski," Olszanica 2017.
- E. Ptaszyńska, "Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski 1849-1915," Warsaw 2011.
- J. Derwojed, Kowalski Wierusz Alfred Jan Maksymilian, in "Słownik Artystów Polskich i obcych w Polsce działających. Painters, Sculptors, Graphic Artists", vol. 4, Wroclaw 1986
- Bruckmanns Lexikon der Münchner Kunst: Müchner Maler im 19. Jahrhundert in vier Banden, vol. 4, München 1983.
- B. Nasierowska, "Family recollections," [in:] "On Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski...," Suwałki 2000.
Auction
Winter Auction
gavel
Date
28 January 2023 CET/Warsaw
date_range
Start price
63 914 EUR
Estimations
74 566 - 85 219 EUR
Hammer price
79 253 EUR
Hammer price without Byuer's Premium
66 045 EUR
Overbid
124%
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Auction

Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny

Winter Auction
Date
28 January 2023 CET/Warsaw
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