Wojciech Kossak, LWOV EAGLES, 1927

65,0 x 49,5cm - oil, cardboard signed l.d.: Wojciech Kossak | 1927



Image exhibited and reproduced:

- Juliusz Kossak (1824-1899) |Wojciech Kossak (1856-1942), Polish Museum in Rapperswil (20 VI - 24 IX), Polish Library in Paris (28 IX - 28 X), District Museum in Suwałki (10 XI - 31 XII), 2019, curated by E. Ptaszyńska, pp. 122, 124 (French version), 98 (German version).



Compare:

- Orlęta Lwowskie postcard - battle of the cemetery, ca. 1930;

- K. Olszanski, Wojciech Kossak, published by Ossolineum, Wroclaw-Warsaw-Gdansk 1990, cat. no. 226.



The defense of Lvov, undertaken in 1918-1919 in the absence of regular Polish Army units by its youthful inhabitants, was extremely vivid in the memory of Poles in the interwar period. Hence, naturally, Wojciech Kossak dedicated his painting series to the Eaglets. His compositions feature shots of groups of boys and girls during the fighting in the Lychakivsky cemetery, or individual figures of children with weapons in hand, looking out for the enemy. Several such paintings are in the collections of the National Museum and the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw, among others. They appear rarely on the antiquarian market.

Wojciech Kossak (Paris 1856 - Krakow 1942 ) - widely known painter, seen primarily as a great battle artist. The son and pupil of Juliusz Kossak, he was educated at the Cracow School of Fine Arts, the Munich Academy and in Paris. In 1895-1902 he stayed mainly in Berlin, working for Kaiser Wilhelm II. He traveled extensively, including to Spain and Egypt, where he made sketches for intended panoramas. In later years, he traveled to the United States several times doing portrait commissions. In 1913 he was appointed professor at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. During the years of World War I, he served in the military. He was co-author of panoramas: "Raclawice" (1893-1894), "Berezina" (1895-1896), "Battle of the Pyramids" (1901) and sketches for the unrealized "Somosierra" (1900). With temperament and freedom, he created extensively painted dynamic battle scenes, historical scenes, genre scenes and numerous portraits. He was fond of painting horses. His paintings, glorifying the Polish military and the heroism of soldiers, both ancient and contemporary to the artist, appealed to the patriotic feelings of the public and enjoyed great popularity.