Włodzimierz Tetmajer, THE RAISE IN BRONOWICE

47.0 x 63.0cm - oil, cardboard signed p.d.: WT.
On the back two stickers of the auction house.
On the lower edge of the frame a partially torn sticker of the Salon of Art Sharing by Kazimierz Wojciechowski in Cracow (print, ink): Date received 1927 | Author Włodzimierz Tetmajer | Title "Harvest in Bronowice" | Type oil | Size ... | No. ...



A significant part of Tetmajer's works are rural landscapes and genre scenes. Among them, representations of the everyday life of the residents of Bronowice near Krakow form a separate group. The authors of the monographic exhibition write about the Harvest cycle: Tetmajer's fascination with the Polish landscape gained particular expression in his paintings depicting ripe grain fields, harvest, harvesters at work in the field, painted in a scene of summer sunshine. [From around 1900 Tetmajer's paintings gain dynamism through the artist's increasing use of diagonal compositional arrangements. Elements of clothing using the bright cinnabar red of the scarves and skirts of the harvesters introduce strong color accents. [...] With the help of skillfully applied chiaroscuro, handling of color, nature and people are a unity, the figures become part of the landscape (Włodzimierz Tetmajer. The power of color and temperament. Exhibition catalog, M. Marek, P. Hapanowicz, Museum of Krakow, Krakow 2023, pp. 200-201).

Włodzimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (Harklowa near Ludźmierz in the Podhale region 1862 - Kraków 1923), the half-brother of the poet Kazimierz, began studying painting at an early age; as early as 1875 he attended classes at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he then studied (with breaks) until 1895 - initially with Franciszek Cynk, Leopold Loeffler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz, and after 1889 with Jan Matejko. At the same time, he studied classical philology at Jagiellonian University. In 1882 he still studied at the Vienna Academy, and in 1886-89 at the Munich Academy under Alexander Wagner. He supplemented his studies at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. An imperial scholarship enabled him to travel to Rome. Upon his return, he lived in Cracow. In 1890 he married Anna Mikołajczykówna, daughter of a farmer from the village of Bronowice near Krakow, where he himself often stayed, and in 1895 settled permanently. In 1901 he founded and then ran a painting school for women for several years. Since 1899 he was a member of the Society of Polish Artists "Art"; in 1901 he was one of the founders of the Society "Polish Applied Art"; in 1908 he co-founded the "Zero" group. He was a prominent representative of the "folklore" trend, a painter of customs, labor and landscapes of the sub-Cracow countryside. In his earlier period he created in the spirit of academic, Munich realism. Later he developed his own original style - the composition of his paintings was free, he painted with broad brushstrokes and used bright, vivid colors. In 1892-1894 he collaborated with Wojciech Kossak and Jan Styka on Panorama Raclawicka. He designed stained glass windows, did illustration and mural painting, including a polychrome of the Queen Sophia Chapel at Wawel Cathedral in 1902. The artist was the prototype for the character of the Host in S. Wyspiański's drama The Wedding.