Kazimierz POCHWALSKI, THREE BEARING HAPPENS IN THE FIELD

Oil, cardboard; 35 x 49 cm
Signed p.d.: K. Pochwalski
Estimate 7000 - 8000
Kazimierz POCHWALSKI
1855 Kraków - 1940 Kraków
Son of Jozef Kasper Pochwalski and Marcjanna née Berg, belonged to a multi-generational family of Krakow painters with strong artistic traditions. The painters were his great-grandfather Marcin (1745-1800), father Jozef Kasper (1816-1875), brother Wladyslaw (1860-1924), son Jozef Mikolaj (1888-1963) and nephews Stanislaw (1896-1959) and Kasper (1899-1971). A portrait painter, he received his initial drawing and painting lessons from his father, then studied at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow (1871-1876) under J. Mehoffer. In 1877 he received a scholarship to go to the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he studied under A. Wagner and O. Seitz. He completed his studies with a silver medal. In Cracow he continued his studies under Jan Matejko. In addition, he supplemented his painting education in Vienna (1879), Rome (1881) and Paris, under L. Bonnat (1883/4). In his early years, influenced by Munich painting, he painted studies and genre scenes. Quite quickly, however, his outstanding talent as a portraitist became apparent. He created realistic and even naturalistic portraits, in which he was remarkably able to capture the physical likeness of the model while bringing out his character traits. He remained faithful to traditional painting, not succumbing to the influence of new currents in art. He was an extremely prolific artist, leaving a great number of portraits. He created many outstanding images of representatives of the Polish aristocracy and landed gentry, including Pawel Popiel, Leon Pininski and Włodzimierz Dzieduszycki. His friendship with Henryk Sienkiewicz was crowned with a great portrait of the writer, his most famous likeness. During his long life, both in the earlier period and later in independent Poland, Kazimierz Pochwalski exhibited very often in the country (in Krakow, Lviv, Warsaw), also abroad achieving great success, collecting awards and medals (Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Paris). In 1893 he was offered the chair of painting at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1894 he was appointed a full professor. From then on he settled, with his family, permanently in Vienna. There he gained great success as a painter of portraits. Thus, he was not short of commissions from the aristocracy, people connected with the court, senior officials, military officers or representatives of the financiers. The artist's distinction was that he was commissioned several times to portray Emperor Franz Joseph. Kazimierz Pochwalski did not neglect contacts with the country, where he often traveled to fulfill orders for portraits, and also, as a passionate hunter, on hunting trips, invited by his clients. After World War I ended and Poland regained its independence, he returned to the country and settled permanently in his native Cracow. He continued to receive commissions for portraits, often of an official nature. This led to portraits of many well-known personalities, presidents, rectors and university professors. In 1929 he was a co-founder of the Association of Artists "Zwrotnik" . hide