Signed p. d.: H Pillati 1868
On the reverse along the g. edge (in pencil): [...] of the library; on the upper loom strip a fragment of a sticker (print, ink, crayon): [DOM SZTUKI (HOT]TEL DES VENTES | [Warsaw,] Chmielna 5 | [Inv. no. ...]9 | [...] K. 42;
in addition, Serbian export stamp on the left loom strip.
Henryk Pillati (Warsaw 1832 - Warsaw 1894) came from an intelligentsia family; his younger brother Ksawery (1843-1902) was also a painter. He began his artistic studies in 1845 at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts, but in 1848, due to the need to earn a living, he had to drop out. At that time he took up illustration and painting genre and historical pictures. From 1852 he also painted paintings to decorate Vistula passenger ships. At that time he belonged to a group of young artists, a "bohemian group" centered around Marcin Olszynski. Thanks to private scholarships in 1853/54 and 1857/58, he was twice in Paris, where he attended the École des Beaux-Arts and copied paintings in museums. He traveled to Italy and Munich, where he reportedly studied at the Academy. From 1858, he was permanently based in Warsaw. He exhibited his paintings many times at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts and the Krywult Salon in Warsaw, as well as at the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Cracow. As an illustrator, he collaborated with Warsaw magazines, mainly with "Tygodnik Ilustrowanym" and "Kłosy". He also illustrated book publications, including Pisma J. I. Kraszewski, Pisma A. Mickiewicza, Bajki i powiastki S. Jachowicza, Śpiewy historyczne J. U. Niemcewicz (together with Juliusz Kossak). In 1879 he went to St. Petersburg to take a position in the publishing house there. However, a worsening alcoholic disease so strained his strength and health that his brother Ksawery soon had to take him back to Warsaw. Sick and infirm, he spent his last years in the shelter of the Benevolent Society. The fate of the artist, who succumbed to addiction and squandered his great talent, was described by Wiktor Gomulicki in his novella Malaria. Pillati painted mainly, rather conventional, but lively historical and battle scenes; he was particularly fond of battles and horse skirmishes with the Swedes. He also painted genre paintings, characterized by humor and a sense of observation of types, gestures and human behavior. He had a great sense of color, but treated his paintings quite sketchily, painting mostly based on memory and imagination. The artist's drawings are distinguished by their lightness and freedom; many of them depict people and episodes from the life of Warsaw's "bohemians."
