Roman Kochanowski, WIERZBY, ca. 1900

20.7 x 28.5cm - oil, canvas duplicated

On the back stickers: of exhibitions in Radom and Gdansk, with number D.1286 and description of the painting, with number P.44;
in addition, auction sticker Agra-Art, 2012.

Roman Kochanowski's intimate landscape from around 1900 is a fine example of the mature style of the artist from the Munich colony circle. The composition depicts a rural landscape with clumps of willows and a wooden fence. The work impresses with the dynamic, structural duct of the hard brush, with which the painter builds up a dense texture of earth, raw vegetation and clouds. The sparse, earthy color palette, enlivened by subtle, diffused light, creates a poetic and realistic mood of the native landscape.

Provenance: A painting from the Munich collection of Barbara and Tadeusz Lewkowicz. In 2007 it was shown at the Kochanowski monographic exhibition arranged at the Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom, subsequently shown in Katowice, Sandomierz, Gdansk and, in a more modest selection, in Piotrkow Trybunalski, the Historical Museum of the City of Cracow, and in Freising near Munich.
The painting exhibited, mentioned and reproduced, among others, in:: - Roman Kochanowski [1857-1945]. On the 150th anniversary of his birth, [edited and compiled by Z.K. Posiadała], Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom, Radom 2007, p. 230, p. 231, no. 58, il. on p. 158;
- Roman Kochanowski, Malerei, [author Z. K. Posiadała] Catalogue of the exhibition at Stadtmuseum in Freising, publisher Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom 2010, p. 61, cat. no. 21, il. on p. 24.

Roman Kochanowski (Krakow 1857 - Freising k. Munich 1945) - painter and graphic artist - was one of the Polish artists settled and permanently active in Munich. He began his studies in painting in Cracow; initially in the private studio of Maksymilian Cerch, and in 1873- 1875 at the School of Fine Arts under Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and landscape painter Henryk Grabiński. For the next two years he still studied at the landscape department of the Vienna Academy. In 1881 he moved to Munich, where he had his own studio and soon started a family. However, he often came to Cracow, visited Poznan, traveled through Galicia and Podolia, drawing landscapes and views of cities, which were later included in an album published in Vienna in 1898. The artist belonged to the Munich Kunstverein, participated in many exhibitions in Germany, Vienna, London; he also sent his works to national shows. He painted mainly landscapes and only rarely flowers and portraits. A constant and favorite motif of his paintings was the Polish landscape near Krakow, with people's figures woven into it. The artist's paintings, often painted on small boards and devoid of an anecdotal layer, are characterized by unusual painterly qualities, color harmony and a lyrical mood. Noted and awarded at numerous exhibitions, they were also highly valued in the art market. In 1892, after an exhibition in Vienna, one of Kochanowski's paintings was purchased for his collection by Emperor Franz Joseph; two others were acquired by members of the imperial family. Karol Joseph Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, was an admirer of his paintings. The artist's great sensitivity to landscape and nature is also evident in his drawings and etchings.

Kochanowski's work was recently recalled by a monographic exhibition of his works organized at the Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom in 2007. The exhibition - also shown in Katowice, Sandomierz, Szczecin, Gdansk, Piotrków Trybunalski - was accompanied by a richly illustrated catalog, which is a compendium of knowledge about the artist (see: Roman Kochanowski [1857-1945]. On the 150th anniversary of his birth, [edited and compiled by Z. K. Posiadała], Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom, Radom 2007).