Wojciech Kossak, OLSZYNKA GROCHOWSKA, 1928

59,8 x 50,0 cm - oil, cardboard signed l.d.: Wojciech Kossak | 1928

On the reverse in the lower right corner inscription: My work | Wojciech Kossak.



The featured painting is the author's reference to Olszynka Grochowska, one of Kossak's most famous paintings, depicting soldiers of the 4th Regiment of Line Infantry fighting on the outskirts of Warsaw on February 25, 1831. Olszynka Grochowska, a huge canvas measuring about 250 x 350 cm, was painted by Kossak in 1886-1887 and presented for the first time at the Krakow exhibition of Polish art in 1887, receiving the main medal. The painting was reproduced many times and soon became one of Kossak's most popular works, a painting that in a way shaped the image of the heroic soldiers of the Grochowska battle. Today it is known only from reproductions - in 1915 it was burned in a fire at the Mycielski Palace in Boryniki. In the interwar years the artist repeatedly returned to this subject.

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 the soldiers, both ancient and contemporary to the artist, appealed to the patriotic feelings of the public and enjoyed great popularity.