Elviro ANDRIOLLI (1836-1893) - Woodcut from the Meir Ezofovich series, 1888

Woodcut, paper, 20 x 14 cm in light passe - partout, signed on woodcut plate "Andriolli" and by xylographer. "E.Gorazdowski".
Michał Elwiro Andriolli - (born November 14, 1836 in Vilnius, died August 23, 1893 in Nałęczów) - the best and most internationally known Polish illustrator and cartoonist - a representative of Romanticism. He was a prominent book illustrator who worked with Warsaw, Paris and London publishers. Among the most famous works of Polish and foreign literature illustrated by Andriolli, it is necessary to mention such works as J.I. Kraszewski's The Old Tale, J. Slowacki's Lilla Weneda, E. Orzeszkowa's Meir Ezofowicz, W. Syrokomla's Born Jan Dęboróg, Memoirs of a Quaestor I. Chodźko, Marya by A. Malczewski and The Last of the Mohicans by J. F. Cooper, Legend of the Ages by W. Hugo or Romeo and Juliet by W. Shakespeare. The artist worked extensively on paintings for the works of Adam Mickiewicz, being the author, among others, of the most famous and so far most popular illustrations for Pan Tadeusz.
Edward Gorazdowski (born 1843 in Warsaw, died November 15, 1901 there) - Warsaw wood engraver, one of the most outstanding and prolific Polish xylographers. Gorazdowski's first works appeared in 1863 in "Tygodnik Ilustrowanym"; Juliusz Kossak was the magazine's art director at the time. Initially he engraved only landscapes and city architecture, but over time he was entrusted with engraving drawings by Elwiro Andriolli, Aleksander Gierymski, Juliusz Kossak, Ksawery Pillati, Władysław Podkowiński, Feliks Sypniewski, Władysław Szerner, Stanisław Witkiewicz and many others. In 1873, having already made a serious artistic contribution, he moved on to "Ears". After the closure of the magazine in 1890, he returned to "Tygodnik Ilustrowany". Awarded many times in Poland and abroad, Gorazdowski was one of the best wood engravers of his time. In addition to magazines, he also illustrated books, including Eliza Orzeszkowa's Meir Ezofowicz, Jozef Kraszewski's The Old Tale, and Stanisław Witkiewicz's On the Pass.