Wincenty Kasprzycki (1802-1849), ZOFIÓWKA, 1832-1843

sepia/paper, 26.5 x 35.5 cm (clear passe-partout)
signed lower left: W. Kasprzycki

Composition by Wincenty Kasprzycki depicts a fragment of the Potocki park, known as Zofiówka. Tadeusz Stefan Jaroszewski wrote about the designer of this park establishment, Ludwig Metzell, and the history of the park's creation: "In 1793-1795 Metzell stayed with Stanislaw Szczęsny Potocki and his sweetheart, Sophia Wittowa, in Hamburg; he is said to have traveled with them in Germany and Italy. In May 1795. Potocki decided to return to the country; in late June he boarded a ship in Lübeck bound for St. Petersburg, and in September he was already in Tulchin. In October, he moved to Humania and settled in a Basilian monastery; he was now a Russian subject. Sophia the Greek returned to Poland separately. She spent the end of 1795 in Lviv preoccupied with her divorce case with General Jozef Witt, and did not set out for Humania until January 1796.When she finally found herself there at Stanislaw Szczesny's side, the two of them busied themselves for a while with establishing a park, with which the still-in-love lord of Tulczyn wanted to honor the chosen one of his heart. Sophie, fascinated by the Nieborow Arcadia (she visited it in July 1795 during a trip from Hamburg to Lviv), was keenly interested in the process of creating the park, named Zofiówka in her honor. She undoubtedly realized that this work would immortalize her name. Her marriage to Stanislaw Szczęsny did not take place until April 17/28, 1798, after Potocki received a divorce from his second wife, Józefina of Mniszech. The task of creating the park was entrusted to Ludwig Metzll, who had been staying with Stanislaw Szczesny Potocki for a long time. It was decided to use for this purpose the picturesque ravine of the Kamionka river, to which there was an area dotted with large boulders. All this was located just outside Humania. [...] Metzell was both the author of the topographical and architectural design of the park, as well as the author of the extremely complex hydraulic system of the entire establishment. "He ordered 'hydraulic machines' from abroad, including the Netherlands" (Tadeusz Stefan Jaroszewski, Educating the Skilled Grad. A message about Ludwig Chrystian Metzll. Materials for the history of Zofiówka near Humanie, "Yearbook of Art History" 1994, vol. XX, pp. 312-313).
Work on the project continued in 1796-1805, interrupted by Potocki's death. According to Jaroszewski, the changes introduced by the Russians in the following decades, "adversely altered the original character of the park" (Ibid., p. 314).
In Kasprzycki's composition we notice one of the park's attractions, namely a fountain located in the middle of the pond, throwing water 20 meters high. The building fragment visible on the right is probably the "Pavillon Rustique" created in 1820 - "an oval wooden pavilion covered with bark" (Ibid., p. 347). According to the Dictionary of Polish Artists, Wincenty Kasprzycki worked for the Potocki family between 1832 and 1843 (A. Ryszkiewicz, Kasprzycki Wincenty, [entry in:] Słownik artystów polskich i obcych w Polsce działających, vol. III, Wrocław - Warszawa - Kraków - Gdańsk 1979, p. 379). Among other things, during this period the artist made a series of drawings of "alluring places of Wilanów, Natolin, Gucin and Morysin." For these works, exhibited in 1838, Kasprzycki was awarded a medal (Ibid., p. 379). The charming landscape of Zofiówka probably dates from this period.