DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41455#0016
Masters
of Polish Painting
The most popular artist of that generation was the
highly prolific Juliusz Kossak (1824-1899), who
specialized in watercolours, but was also an esteemed
magazine illustrator. His favourite subjects - historical
and genre scenes - were akin to those of Piotr
Michalowski. However, the two artists differed in their
approach to the themes they pursued. Michalowski
sought generalizations and psychological depth. Kossak
perceived history as a series of exploits of particular
heroes, and in his genre scenes he was attracted mostly
by their picturesque qualities. His innumerable
watercolours, representing battles, hunting scenes,
peasant weddings and horses on the steppe, are full of
dynamism and boisterous vivacity. They are usually set
in the atmosphere and landscape of the eastern
borderlands or in the colourful countryside around
Cracow. Most of Kossak’s works feature horses, which
he painted in a truly masterly fashion. In this way the
artist - endowed with virtuoso draughtsman’s skills,
a good sense of composition, and a thorough
knowledge of the watercolour technique - created
dozens of excellent pictures and not a single great
masterpiece. He painted in response to popular
demand. Already during his lifetime, Kossak became
one of the most popular Polish painters, a position
Aleksander Kotsis,
Rest in the Mountains,
National Museum, Cracow
which he holds to date. The tradition of his art was
continued by his son Wojciech and grandson Jerzy.
Apart from historical painting, increasingly popular
themes included genre scenes and landscapes in the
vein of so-called “critical realism”, which was one of the
facets of Polish Positivism. This trend, present both in
literature and painting, focused on the problems of
social injustice, and in particular on the poverty and
backwardness of the countryside. A frequently exploited
theme was that of a humble burial of a prematurely
deceased peasant. The first paintings of this kind were
already produced in the 1850s by the previously
mentioned Wojciech Gerson, while the most typical
examples came from Aleksander Kotsis (1836-1877) and
Jozef Szermentowski (1833-1876).
Kotsis usually painted doleful scenes set in the
interiors of peasant huts. These pictures, with their dark,
brownish-grey tones, often give a pleasing painterly
effect, but the artist’s draughtsmanship could be
described as a little below the mark, resulting in
a certain crudeness of form. Szermentowski was first
and foremost a landscape painter. On completing his
studies in Warsaw, he settled in Paris, where he was
influenced by the Barbizon School. Even so, Polish
motifs kept recurring in his work. His country scenes set
in the environs of Kielce cany a similar message to
those painted by Kotsis.
The generation of Simmler, Juliusz Kossak and Gerson
made a significant contribution to the enrichment of
12
of Polish Painting
The most popular artist of that generation was the
highly prolific Juliusz Kossak (1824-1899), who
specialized in watercolours, but was also an esteemed
magazine illustrator. His favourite subjects - historical
and genre scenes - were akin to those of Piotr
Michalowski. However, the two artists differed in their
approach to the themes they pursued. Michalowski
sought generalizations and psychological depth. Kossak
perceived history as a series of exploits of particular
heroes, and in his genre scenes he was attracted mostly
by their picturesque qualities. His innumerable
watercolours, representing battles, hunting scenes,
peasant weddings and horses on the steppe, are full of
dynamism and boisterous vivacity. They are usually set
in the atmosphere and landscape of the eastern
borderlands or in the colourful countryside around
Cracow. Most of Kossak’s works feature horses, which
he painted in a truly masterly fashion. In this way the
artist - endowed with virtuoso draughtsman’s skills,
a good sense of composition, and a thorough
knowledge of the watercolour technique - created
dozens of excellent pictures and not a single great
masterpiece. He painted in response to popular
demand. Already during his lifetime, Kossak became
one of the most popular Polish painters, a position
Aleksander Kotsis,
Rest in the Mountains,
National Museum, Cracow
which he holds to date. The tradition of his art was
continued by his son Wojciech and grandson Jerzy.
Apart from historical painting, increasingly popular
themes included genre scenes and landscapes in the
vein of so-called “critical realism”, which was one of the
facets of Polish Positivism. This trend, present both in
literature and painting, focused on the problems of
social injustice, and in particular on the poverty and
backwardness of the countryside. A frequently exploited
theme was that of a humble burial of a prematurely
deceased peasant. The first paintings of this kind were
already produced in the 1850s by the previously
mentioned Wojciech Gerson, while the most typical
examples came from Aleksander Kotsis (1836-1877) and
Jozef Szermentowski (1833-1876).
Kotsis usually painted doleful scenes set in the
interiors of peasant huts. These pictures, with their dark,
brownish-grey tones, often give a pleasing painterly
effect, but the artist’s draughtsmanship could be
described as a little below the mark, resulting in
a certain crudeness of form. Szermentowski was first
and foremost a landscape painter. On completing his
studies in Warsaw, he settled in Paris, where he was
influenced by the Barbizon School. Even so, Polish
motifs kept recurring in his work. His country scenes set
in the environs of Kielce cany a similar message to
those painted by Kotsis.
The generation of Simmler, Juliusz Kossak and Gerson
made a significant contribution to the enrichment of
12