Dimensions: 55.5 x 86 cm
Signed and dated p.d.: 'F. Kostrzewski | 1890'
Origin:
private collection, Poland
Biography
He was educated at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts, and his teachers included Marcin Zaleski, Chrystian Breslauer and Jan Feliks Piwarski. During his studies, he was friends with Wojciech Gerson, Juliusz Kossak and Henryk Pillati. Together they went on outdoor hikes, during which they observed the life of the people and the nature around them. The group they created was called the "Warsaw Bohemia." Kostrzewski painted numerous easel landscapes and genre scenes at the time. For a period of two years (from 1849) he stayed and worked in Kielce, at the invitation of Tomasz Zieliński, a patron and art collector. In 1856 he traveled around Europe, stopping in Paris for a longer period. Upon his return, he permanently lived and worked in Warsaw. Around 1870 he virtually abandoned easel painting. He collaborated with Warsaw magazines. He created illustrations of a satirical nature for "Tygodnik Ilustrowany", "Wędrowiec" and "Kłosy", among others. As a cartoonist, Kostrzewski produced numerous genre compositions and moralizing scenes. Published in the press, the artist's works of coherent stories are considered the first Polish comic strips.
