Dimensions: 70.5 x 107 cm
Signed and dated p.d.: 'F Kostrzewski 1869'
Provenance
collection of Zofia Lipinska, in 1936
private collection, Poland
Agra-Art, June 2014
DESA Unicum, December 2015
private collection, Poland
Exhibited
Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Cracow, 1869
Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw, 1878
Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw, 1936
Literature
Michał Bałucki, Wystawa Sztuk Pięknych w Krakowie, "Kłosy", 1869, no. 202, p. 263
Artistic review. Painting, "Tygodnik Ilustrowany", 1869, no. 90, p. 148
Report of the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland for the year 1878, Warsaw 1879, p. 47
Guide. The Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw: Franciszek Kostrzewski 1826-1911, 1936 no. 117, p. 19, cat. no. 28.
Franciszek Kostrzewski. Catalog of works, Historical Museum of the City of Warsaw, Warsaw 1963, p. 165.
Janina Wiercińska, Catalogue of works exhibited in the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw in the years 1860-1914, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków 1969, p. 163.
Biography
He was educated at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts, and his teachers included Marcin Zaleski, Chrystian Breslauer and Jan Feliks Piwarski. During his studies, he was friends with Wojciech Gerson, Juliusz Kossak and Henryk Pillati. Together they went on outdoor hikes, during which they observed the life of the people and the surrounding nature. The group they created was called the "Warsaw Bohemia." Kostrzewski painted numerous easel landscapes and genre scenes at the time. For a period of two years (from 1849) he stayed and worked in Kielce, at the invitation of Tomasz Zieliński, a patron and art collector. In 1856 he traveled around Europe, stopping in Paris for a longer period. Upon his return, he permanently lived and worked in Warsaw. Around 1870 he virtually abandoned easel painting. He collaborated with Warsaw magazines. He created illustrations of a satirical nature for "Tygodnik Ilustrowany", "Wędrowiec" and "Kłosy", among others. As a cartoonist, Kostrzewski produced numerous genre compositions and moralizing scenes. Published in the press, the artist's works of coherent stories are considered the first Polish comic strips.
