STROOBANT Francois (1819-1916), Cracow (St. Mary's Church, Cloth Hall).

Cracow (St. Mary's Church, Cloth Hall).

Watercolor on paper, signed "F.Stroobant" No date (ca. 1860). Size: 55.5 x 46 cm (in frame behind glass: 74 x 62 cm).
Very good condition. View of Cracow Market Square from north-west. Visible fragment of the Cloth Hall and St. Mary's Church. On the square in front of the Cloth Hall stalls and single figures. In 1856 Belgian painter and illustrator Francois Stroobant was invited to Krakow. The artist's arrival was related to the writings of Bishop Ludwik Lêtowski, who intended to enrich the text of his work "Cracow Cathedral on Wawel" with architectural illustrations. Francois Stroobant (1819-1916), Belgian landscape and architectural painter, illustrator, draughtsman and lithographer, is best known for his oil views of architectural monuments of the old Belgian cities of Leodium, Bruges, Brussels, Ostend and others.While staying in Cracow in the 1850s/60s, Stroobant eventually produced illustrations for two publications, i.e. the aforementioned Wawel Cathedral - 17 chromolithographs and 13 for Ancient Buildings of Cracow. The watercolor on offer bears an uncanny resemblance to one of the lithographs (at No. 6) included in the aforementioned work, "Ancient Buildings of Krakow." Stroobant's watercolors are very rare on the Polish market. Lit. by Banach J. - Malowniczy Kraków, pp. 120-126. 9279/1