Jerzy KOSSAK (1886-1955), Changing the position of General Bem's artillery at Ostrołęka

Oil, canvas, 58.5 x 98 cm, signed l.d.: Jerzy Kossak 1933; for conservation. The painting is a reduced and slightly altered reproduction of the 1931 composition, exhibited in Katowice, Stanislawow and Lviv, purchased in 1938 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a gift to the Hungarian horse artillery regiment in Budapest. Cf. K Olszanski, Jerzy Kossak, Wroclaw Warsaw Krakow 1992, p. 27, reprod. of the 1935 version of cat. 126).

Jerzy KOSSAK (1886-1955). He came from a Krakow artistic family. He was the son of Wojciech Kossak, grandson of Juliusz, brother of Magdalena Samozwaniec and Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska. Even as a child, he showed great artistic ability, taking drawing and painting lessons in the studios of his grandfather and father. However, he never took up studies at the Academy of Fine Arts. The painter's first solo exhibition was held at the Society of Fine Arts in 1910, where he showed the Napoleonic cycle, which was very well received and appreciated by critics. Although Wojciech Kossak had high hopes for him, Jerzy never developed an individual style, duplicating themes developed by his father. In the difficult postwar times, this practice provided him with financial stability, but it had a bad effect on his creative development. In addition to lancer and war themes, he also painted folklore scenes, hunting and portraits. He became very proficient in depicting images of horses and riders. He was extremely popular among Krakow's wealthy bourgeoisie.