Kazimierz Stabrowski, WODOSPAD, 1915

63.0 x 50.5 cm - pastel, paper pastel, paper glued on cardboard, 63 x 50.5 cm

Signed p. d.: K. Stabrowski | 1915



Provenance: legacy of Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna.

Attached to the painting is a letter from K. Iłłakowiczówna with provenance information.



In 1915, the artist took all his works and - fleeing the hostilities - left Warsaw for St. Petersburg. Already at the end of the year, at the headquarters of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts there, there was his solo exhibition, and immediately after it, in 1916 in Moscow - another one. Both of them - which were the largest expositions of Stabrovsky's work during his lifetime - received a lively reaction from Russian critics. An extensive account of the Moscow exhibition was published, among others, by the newspaper Russkoye Słowo. In its pages, critic V. Nikolsky wrote, for example, that Stabrovsky's exhibition was successful in Petrograd. We learn from it, also, that a number of his works found their way into the hands of local collectors, and that in Moscow, already on the day of the opening, slips of paper appeared next to some sketches with the inscription Sold (quoted in. Lija Skalska-Miecik, Kazimierz Stabrowski - years of study and the beginnings of creative activity, "Yearbook of the National Museum in Warsaw," 1975, p. 633).

Among the works sold at the exhibition in St. Petersburg was probably the offered Waterfall, which was acquired by Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna. From 1914 to 1917 the poet served as an orderly on the Eastern Front. During these years she visited the city on the Neva River several times. As we learn from her correspondence, she purchased or received a painting by Stabrowski there, which she then deposited at the Polish Bookstore, run by Ferdinand Heidenreich (1868-1922), a bookseller and social activist. In 1918, the pastel was brought to Poland by Zofia Heidenreich, Ferdinand's wife. It was not until after World War II that the work was returned to Illakovichna.



Kazimierz Stabrowski (Kruplany near Novogrudok 1869 - Garwolin 1929) - painter, draughtsman, teacher; from 1887 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. During his studies he received medals and decorations several times. In 1893 he traveled to Palestine in connection with, painted for his diploma, a painting of Muhammad in the desert, for which he later received a great gold medal. Despite his graduation, from 1895 he still trained in the studio of I.J.Riepin. In 1897 he went to Paris and attended the Académie Julian there, working under B.Constants and J.P.Laurens. In 1898 he returned to St. Petersburg. In 1900, at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, he received a great silver medal for his painting Silence in the Countryside. He also participated in other international exhibitions, including Munich (1901), Venice (1903). Since 1902 he was a member of the Association of Polish Artists Art. In 1903 he moved to Warsaw, where in 1904 he became the first director of the School of Fine Arts, being one of the initiators of its establishment. In 1909-1913 he traveled a lot - he was in France, Ni