Dimensions: 70 x 90 cm
signed and dated p.d.: 'WOJCIECH KOSSAK 1910'
oval ownership stamp repeated twice on the reverse and twice on the frame: 'PIOTR OSTROMÊCKI | Tomaszowice', on one of the stamps handwritten inventory number: '1712' (repeated on the frame)
Provenance
collection of military officer and philanthropist Piotr Ostromęcki (1871-1916), Tomaszowice
private collection, Warsaw (purchased at the Salon desy, 21 Foksal Street, 1952)
Literature
compare:
Kazimierz Olszanski, Jerzy Kossak, Wroclaw [et al.], 1992, p. nlb, cat. no. 59, p. 121
archival postcard, Salon of Polish Painters Publishing House, Cracow
Biography
He was a son and pupil of Juliusz Kossak, father of Jerzy, also a painter, and of poet Maria Pawlikowska - Jasnorzewska and writer Magdalena Samozwaniec. He was educated at the Cracow School of Fine Arts, the Munich Academy and in Paris. In 1895-1902 he stayed mainly in Berlin, where he worked for Kaiser Wilhelm II; he also painted for the court of Franz Joseph II. He traveled extensively, including to Spain and Egypt. In later years, he traveled to the United States several times and completed portrait commissions. In 1913 he was appointed professor at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. He was co-author of panoramas: Raclawice (1893-94), Berezina (1895-96), Battle of the Pyramids (1901) and sketches for the unrealized Samosierra (1900) He was an unparalleled painter of battle and historical scenes. In them he glorified the Polish army: uhlans, cavalrymen, legionaries. He perfectly mastered the art of painting horses.
