Dimensions: 32 x 50 cm (approximate size of each work)
1. 'Meeting of Skrzetuski and Chmielnicki in the Wild Fields', 1885
watercolour, ink/paper, 29.8 x 47 cm (in light of the passe-partout)
signed and dated below: 'Juliusz Kossak | 1885'.
on the reverse, stamp of the framing workshop, paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the date of the exhibition and pencil description on the canvas: 'No. 1 Meeting of Skrzetuski with Chmielnicki'.
2 'Adventure on the road to Lubniów', 1885
watercolour, ink/paper, 32 x 46.7 cm (in light of the passe-partout)
signed and dated p.d.: 'Juliusz Kossak | 1885'.
on the reverse, stamp of the framing workshop, paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the date of the exhibition
3 'The march of Khmelnytsky with Tuchai Bejem', 1885-1886
watercolour, ink/paper, 31.2 x 47.3 cm (in light of the passe-partout)
signed l.d.: 'JKossak'.
on the reverse a stamp of the framing workshop, a paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, an exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the date of the exhibition and a quotation from "With Fire and Sword" by Henryk Sienkiewicz written in pen on the canvas: 'Hey ye steppes, ye rydnye | Krasnym cwitom pysanyje | Jako more szyrokije'.
4. 'Bohun's attack on the Kurcevichs in Rozlogi', 1885
watercolour, gouache, ink, sepia/paper, 30.5 x 43 cm (light passe-partout)
signed and dated l.d.: 'Juliusz Kossak | 1885'.
on the reverse, stamp of the framing workshop, paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce, with exhibition date
5 'Prince Jeremi on a grave', 1885
watercolour, gouache, ink, sepia/paper, 29.4 x 46.3 cm (light passe-partout)
signed and dated p.d.: 'Juliusz Kossak | 1885'.
watermark on paper p.d., on the reverse a stamp of the framing workshop, paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the exhibition date
6. 'Podbipięta with Pułjan at Konstantynow', 1885
watercolour, gouache, ink, sepia/paper, 30.1 x 46.7 cm (in light of the passe-partout)
signed and dated at the bottom: 'Juliusz Kossak | 1885'
on the reverse, stamp of the framing workshop, paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the exhibition date
7 'Zagłoba wins a banner', 1886
watercolour, gouache, ink, sepia/paper, 29.2 x 43.2 cm (light passe-partout)
signed and dated p.d.: 'Juliusz Kossak | 1886'.
watermark on paper l.d., on the reverse a stamp of the framing workshop, paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the exhibition date
8 'Duel between Wolodyjowski and Bohun', 1886
watercolour, gouache, ink, sepia/paper, 30.5 x 47 cm (light passe-partout)
signed and dated l.d.: 'Juliusz Kossak | 1886'.
paper watermark l.d., on the reverse a stamp of the framing workshop, a paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, an exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the date of the exhibition and described in pencil on the reverse: '- Attack! - shouted | Zagłoba'.
9 'Helena with Zagłoba, Wołodyjowski and Rzędzian', 1886
watercolour, gouache, ink, sepia/paper, 29.5 x 46.5 cm (light passe-partout)
signed and dated on the underside: 'Juliusz Kossak | 1886'.
watermark on paper p.d., on the reverse a stamp of the framing workshop, paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the exhibition date
10. 'Death of Longinus Podbipięta', 1885-1886
watercolour, gouache, ink, sepia/paper, 30.8 x 47 cm (light passe-partout)
on the reverse a stamp of the framing workshop, paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the date of exhibition
11 'Skrzetuski's crossing of the pond near Zbaraż', 1886
watercolour, gouache, ink, sepia/paper, 29.5 x 46 cm (light passe-partout)
signed and dated l.d.: 'Juliusz Kossak | 1886'.
on the reverse a stamp of the framing workshop, a paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, an exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the date of the exhibition and described in pencil on the canvas: 'Volume IIIci Roz XXIX It was a strange sight | The Tartar kept swaying, as if bowing in silence'.
12. 'Skrzetuski before the King in Toporów', 1885-1886
watercolour, gouache, ink, sepia/paper, 29.5 x 46 cm (light passe-partout)
signed l.d.: 'Juliusz Kossak'.
on the reverse a stamp of the framing workshop, a paper exhibition sticker of the District Museum in Toruń, an exhibition stamp of the National Museum in Kielce with the date of the exhibition and described in pencil on the canvas: 'No. XII | Skrzetuski in front of the King in Toporowo | In the Toporowo manor, in an entertaining chamber, sat | in the evening three gentlemen locked in secret (...)'.
Origin
collection of Count Jerzy Dunin-Borkowski (1856-1908), purchase from the artist
private collection, London (post-war period)
private collection, Vienna
private collection, Kraków
DESA Unicum, December 2020
private collection, Poland
Exhibited
Juliusz Kossak 1824-1899, Wojciech Kossak 1856-1942, District Museum in Suwałki, 9 November - 31 December 2018
The Kossaks, District Museum in Toruń, 3 March - 8 May 2016
Trilogy - a strange confusion of matter, National Museum in Kielce, 26 April - 16 November 2014
Juliusz Kossak (1824-1899). On the centenary of the artist's death, Historical Museum of the City of Kraków, March-May 1999
Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland, Warsaw, 1886
Literature
Kamila Pijanowska, Henryk Sienkiewicz and Artists. "Ogniem i mieczem" in the visual interpretation of Juliusz Kossak and Antoni Piotrowski, "Filologia Polska. Roczniki Naukowe Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego" 2017, z. 3, there above all pp. 254-263
Trilogy. Strange confusion of matter, exhibition catalogue, Henryk Sienkiewicz Museum in Oblęgorek, Kielce 2014, pp. 26-37, item 17-28, pp. 26-37
Sławomir Gowin, Kossakowie, Warsaw 2006, p. 27 (there il. "Skrzetuski's crossing of the pond"), 30
Stefania Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, Kossaks, Wrocław 2001, p. 31
Juliusz Kossak (1824-1899). W centną rocznicę śmierci artysty, exhibition catalogue, Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Krakowa, Kraków 1999 (all works in the series reproduced and described there)
Joanna Krzemińska, Albums to the "Trilogy" Henryk Sienkiewicz, in: Dzieła czy kicze (Works or Kitsch), ed. by Elżbieta Grabska and Tadeusz S. Jaroszewski, Warsaw 1981, pp. 287-301 (all works in the series illustrated there)
Janina Wiercińska, Catalogue of works exhibited at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw in the years 1860-1914, Warsaw 1969, p. 160
Kazimierz Olszański, Juliusz Kossak, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków-Gdańsk-Łódź 1988, pp. 124-125, items 544-547, 550-553, 555-558 (ill. on separate pages)
Stanisław Witkiewicz, Juliusz Kossak, Lwów 1906, pp. 251-252
Report of the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland for the year 1886, Warsaw 1887, p. 14
Album of Henryk Sienkiewicz. With Fire and Sword. According to drawings by Juliusz Kossak, Lwów 1886 (further editions 1898 and 1899; there reproductions of watercolours in the technique of photo-print on separate pages).
Biography
Initially - from about 1842 - he studied at the Faculty of Law at the University of Lwów, at the same time learning drawing from Jan Maszkowski. From 1850-52 he lived alternately in Lviv and Warsaw. In 1852 he went to Vienna, where he studied for a short time in the studio of Ferdinand G. Waldmüller, and also visited Hungary. At the turn of 1852/53 he was in Paris for the first time, where he settled for several years in 1855 In 1860 he returned to Warsaw. In 1869, he studied in the Munich studio of Franz Adam and also remained in close contact with J. Brandt. In the autumn of 1869, he settled permanently in Krakow, from which he rarely left - he made an artistic journey through Eastern Galicia, and spent the turn of the years 1872/73 in Munich. He exhibited his works in Lvov, Krakow, Warsaw (at the TZSP and the Krywult Salon), Lodz, Poznan and abroad: in Paris, Munich, Dresden, Berlin and Vienna. The most important motif in the artist's painting was the horse, depicted in historical scenes, battle scenes depicting marching armies as well as genre scenes - hunting, riding, racing. He also painted - especially after a period of study in Paris and Munich - scenes of everyday life of simple people and horse portraits. His favourite technique was watercolour, which allowed him to quickly capture the movement and shape of the scene taking place.
