Dimensions: 27.4 x 31 cm
signed lower left: 'JKossak'
Biography
From around 1842, he studied at the Faculty of Law at the University of Lviv. At the same time, he studied drawing under Jan Maszkowski. Between 1850 and 1852, he lived alternately in Lviv and Warsaw. In 1852, he left for Vienna, where he studied for a short time in Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller’s studio. At the turn of 1852 and 1853, he visited Paris for the first time, where he settled for several years in 1855. In 1860, he returned to Warsaw. In 1869, he began studying in Franz Adam’s studio in Munich. He also remained in close contact with Józef Brandt. In the fall of 1869, he settled permanently in Kraków, from which he rarely traveled. He undertook an artistic journey through Eastern Galicia. He spent the turn of 1872–73 in Munich once again. He exhibited his works in Lviv, Kraków, Warsaw (at the TZSP and the Krywult Salon), Łódź, Poznań, and abroad: in Paris, Munich, Dresden, Berlin, and Vienna. The most important motif in the artist’s paintings was the horse, depicted in historical scenes, battle scenes showing military marches, as well as in genre scenes—hunts, rides, and races. He also painted—especially after his studies in Paris and Munich—scenes from the everyday life of ordinary people and equestrian portraits. His favorite medium was watercolor, which allowed him to quickly capture the movement and form of the unfolding scene.
