Jozef Chelmonski, WINTER MORNING, circa 1900.

29,6 x 35,4cm - oil, canvas glued on cardboard On the back of the cardboard, along the bottom edge, there is an authentic inscription-attestation made with pen and ink (nowadays browned and faded), by the painter's daughter Jadwiga: Authenticity of the sketch of late Father Jozef Chelmonski I affirm Jadwiga Chelmonska.

Attached to the painting is the opinion of Tadeusz Matuszczak dated October 2024.

The authorship of Józef Chełmoński in the case of the work described above is beyond any doubt, indisputable and absolutely certain. (...) The sketch in question is an excellent example of Chełmoński's fascination with the seemingly mundane motif of a winter landscape, such as Chełmoński could observe from the window of his studio in the attic of the manor house in Kuklówka (view of the garden). A winter morning, still fierce, but the sun is clearly already trying to break through the delicate clouds. Bright blue sky stretched over a light gray stretch of woods. In the clear foreground, leafless dark trees with branches dusted with grayish snow with shades of purple and blue. In front of the tree line a dominant expanse of snow of similar shades. Dark brown trees, strongly drawn against the background of a snow-white field and light blue sky, are the central and vertical elements of the composition. The artist's painterly vision gives the work a dimension of poetic lyricism. It is known, from the preserved memories of the painter, that he could often be found somewhere among the fields and meadows, most often at the early hours of daybreak or at dusk shimmered by the setting sun. (...) The work fascinates, typical of Chełmoński's sketches, with the virtuosity of the painter's technique and the truth and simplicity of the depicted scene, imbued with a strong empathy with nature and a poetic, lyrical mood, and at the same time soothing tranquility. (...) The refined simplicity of the composition and painterly qualities of the work, reinforces my conviction that it comes from the summation period of the painter's achievements at the end of his life. I would date Zimowy poranek to the years around 1900, and the sketch evokes the memory of the perfect winter landscape that delights in Chełmoński's large painting entitled Jay. Frost from 1892 and which is in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw.

(after the opinion of Tadeusz Matuszczak)

Józef Chełmoński (Boczki near Łowicz 1849 - Kuklówka near Grodzisk Mazowiecki 1914) was one of the most famous representatives of Polish realist painting, the creator of vast landscapes from Ukraine and Podolia, of speeding horse-drawn carriages - the well-known Trojek and Four - as well as rural genre scenes and atmospheric landscapes of Mazovia. The artist - in 1867-1871 - studied under Wojciech Gerson at the Warsaw Drawing Class. From 1871 to 1874 he stayed in Munich, where he briefly studied at the Academy with Hermann Anschütz and Alexander Strähuber, and where his work was significantly influenced by his encounter with Polish "Munichists," mainly Jozef Brandt and Maksymilian Gierymski. He spent the next twelve years in Paris. His stay there brought him fame and recognition - he exhibited at the official Paris Salons, and many of his works found buyers among European and American collectors. He returned to Poland in 1887, lived in Warsaw for two years and then settled permanently in the Kuklówka estate in Mazovia. The paintings he painted at the time were mainly atmospheric landscapes often with bird or animal motifs, in which the artist expressed his emotional and admiring attitude to nature. In addition to his painting work, Chelmonski was also involved in graphic art and illustration - between 1884 and 1892 he collaborated, for example, with the Parisian "Le Monde Illustré."