Dimensions: 49 x 139 cm
Signed and inscribed p.d.: 'JFałat Osiek'.
On the reverse a paper ownership sticker with the description: '"Storks", W. P. Władysław | Niemczewski | Lvov | ul: Andrzeja | Potockiego No 17.', described below: 'Dyr. MICHAŁ GUZECKI | ul. Walowa 9 Lvov'.
Provenance
collection of engineer Wladyslaw Franciszek Niemczewski (1879-1955), Lviv
collection of deputy director of the Municipal Savings Bank in Lviv Michal Guzecki, Lviv (until ca. 1939 ?)
private collection, Poland
Biography
Julian Fałat was a painter and pedagogue - one of the most outstanding Polish artists of the late 19th and early 20th century. He was a member of Polish and European creative associations and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. He was repeatedly awarded medals for his paintings at international exhibitions. In 1869-71 he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow under Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and Leon Dembowski. He continued his studies at the Munich academy under Alexander Strähuber and Johan Leonhardt Raab (1877-80). After his studies, he traveled extensively - he visited Paris, Rome, Spain, and in 1885 took a trip around the world. In 1886, during a hunting trip with the Prince Radziwill family in Nesvizh, he met the later German Emperor Wilhelm II - for whom he then worked as a court painter in Berlin in 1886-95. He was one of the founders of the Society of Polish Artists "Art." After returning to Poland, he was director at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow (1895-1910), and in 1905-09 he was rector of the school. After retiring in 1910, he settled in Bystra near Bielsko-Biała. He was an accomplished watercolorist and also painted in oils. In his earlier period he worked in a realistic convention, but over time he lightened and enriched his palette, and in watercolors he introduced an overflowing spot of color. He became famous as a painter of hunting scenes usually set in winter scenery; he also painted landscapes, rural genre scenes, portraits, city views....
