Alexander KOTSIS, Funeral and wedding meet behind the Florian Gate

oil, canvas, 117 x 153 cm, unsigned exhibited: Aleksander Kotsis (1836-1877). Shades of Realism, March 5-June 13, 2021, International Cultural Center in Cracow and reproduced in the catalog, item 20, p. 119.

Cracovian painter, pioneer of realist tendencies in painting in the 1860s and 1870s, began his training at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow under the tutelage of W. K. Stattler, W. Łuszczkiewicz and A. Płończyński, where he gained a reputation as one of the most talented students. Thanks to a scholarship he received in 1890, he continued his education in Vienna in the department of historical painting. Initially, a frequent motif in Kotsis' work was depictions of the Tatra Mountains emphasizing the colorful folklore of Podhale, then he moved on to themes related to the poverty prevailing in the villages near Krakow. Many of the artist's works are now in Polish national museums, and are rarely found in antiquarian circulation.