Leon WYCZÓŁKOWSKI, Orchard

Pastel, cardboard, 107 x 77 cm, signed p.d. in pencil: L. Wyczół[kowski] 1905. Accompanied by a 1964 ruling by K. Buczkowski and proof of purchase. Provenance: purchased at the DESY Salon on Jana 3 in Kraków in 1964; from the collection of the Gólski family in Kraków, friends of the artist.

Painter, printmaker and educator, he was one of the most outstanding Polish artists working at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He began his artistic studies at the Warsaw Drawing Class under W.Gerson and A. Kaminski (1869-1873), then continued them at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts under A. Wagner (1875-1877), in Cracow under J. Matejko (1877/78) and during two trips to Paris (1878 and 1889). After his studies, he settled in Lviv and later moved to Warsaw. He spent the years 1883-1889 traveling in Ukraine and Podolia. In 1895 he moved to Krakow, appointed as a lecturer at the School of Fine Arts there. In the following years he traveled extensively - to Italy, France, Spain, Holland, England. He was one of the founding members of the Society of Polish Artists "Art". He exhibited a lot both at home and abroad. He spent the years 1929-1936 in Poznań and Gościeradz, commuting to Warsaw, where (from 1934) he held the chair of graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts. He painted landscapes, portraits, genre scenes, still lifes and flowers. He readily used pastel and watercolor techniques, was an accomplished printmaker, and was also involved in sculpture.