Francis Streitt, ON THE ROAD THROUGH THE PUSH.

20.0 x 40.0 cm - oil, mahogany board signed p.d.: F. Streitt

On the back p.g. a sheet of paper with information about the painting and the artist's biography in German, with an oval stamp: Sammlung | G. & H. König | München, stamp repeated at the left edge of the board; at the top edge, stamp: 598, at the bottom edge, illegible stamp of the producer of the canvas. On the left slat of the frame number (crayon): 279197-59.

František Streitt (Brody 1839 - Munich 1890) studied from 1856 to 1866 at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow under Wladyslaw Luszczkiewicz and Jan Matejko, and then at the Vienna Academy under Eduard Engerth. In 1871 he settled permanently in Munich, sharing a studio with his friend, painter Antoni Kozakiewicz. From Munich he traveled to Krakow and Hungary. In the earlier period, as befitted Matejko's disciple, he painted historical compositions, but with genre overtones (Farewell to a son setting out on a Vienna expedition). Later, already in Munich, he painted portraits and landscapes and, above all, genre scenes from small Polish towns or villages - fairs, wandering musicians, gypsy encampments. He was also eager to paint somewhat sentimental scenes with child characters. Anecdotes, further supplemented by descriptive, literary titles, played a large role in his works; Forbidden Fruit, Matula's Consolation, No Tomorrow or The Last Cow. The artist's paintings, "showing with the greatest fidelity the life of the Polish people /.../, found the most vivid recognition" and enjoyed considerable success, with many of them finding their way to the English or American art market.