Wojciech Kossak, SZWOLEŻEROWIE POD WAGRAM, 1893

73.0 x 112.0 cm - oil, doubled canvas signed l. d.: Wojciech Kossak | 1893

Two deposit stickers of the Royal Castle in Warsaw on the lower slat of the painting loom and on the lower slat of the frame; in addition, four stickers of Warsaw auction houses on the lower and upper slats of the loom.

There are two opinions attached to the painting - by Elżbieta Charazińska and Adam Konopacki.



Provenance:

- Deposit of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, 2021-2024.



Exhibited, mentioned and reproduced painting:

- Emmanuel Swieykowski, Memoir of the Society of Fine Arts in Cracow 1854-1904, Cracow 1905, p. 77 (as Epizod z bitwy pod Wagram);

- Kazimierz Olszanski in the introduction to: Wojciech Kossak, Memoirs, PAX Publishing Institute, Warsaw 1971, p. 10;

- Slawomir Gowin, The Kossaks, Edipresse, Warsaw 2006, p. 91;

- Little Encyclopedia of Polish Art, Kluszczyński Publishing House, Kraków 2007, p. 86;

- Juliusz Kossak (1856-1942) | Wojciech Kossak (1856-1942) [exhibition catalog], Museum of Poland in Rapperswil, 20 June - 24 September 2018, p. 100, il. s. 66-67;

- Juliusz Kossak (1856-1942) | Wojciech Kossak (1856-1942) [exhibition catalog], Polish Library in Paris, 28 IX - 28 X 2018, p. 124, il. s. 58-59;

- Those infernal lansjerzy, Royal Castle in Warsaw, Palace under the Metal Sheet, May 2023.



The Napoleonic legend is one of the most important subjects in the work of Wojciech Kossak. The featured canvas depicts an episode of a battle that took place on July 5 and 6, 1809 near an Austrian village. One of the largest clashes during the Napoleonic campaigns ended in a great victory for the French, while its effect was the breakup of the Fifth anti-French coalition.

When illustrating the Napoleonic legend, Wojciech Kossak emphasized the participation of the Poles fighting under the command of the Little Corporal. Hence, in the center of the composition we see Colonel Wincenty Krasinski (future father of poet Zygmunt Krasinski) on a white horse. The brave commander of the Polish Cheval Legers, just after the shelling of the Austrian artillery, picked up his unit and led it to victory. During the charge, the Polish Cheval Legers took their lances from the Austrian lancers and from then on their unit was called Cheval Legers-Lancers.

Wojciech Kossak (Paris 1856 - Krakow 1942 ) - widely known painter, seen primarily as a great battle artist. The son and pupil of Juliusz Kossak, he was educated at the Cracow School of Fine Arts, the Munich Academy and in Paris. In 1895-1902 he stayed mainly in Berlin, working for Kaiser Wilhelm II. He traveled extensively, including to Spain and Egypt, where he made sketches for intended panoramas. In later years, he traveled to the United States several times doing portrait commissions. In 1913 he was appointed professor at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. During the years of World War I, he served in the military. He was co-author of panoramas: "Raclawice" (1893-1894), "Berezina" (1895-1896), "Battle of the Pyramids" (1901) and sketches for the unrealized "Somosierra" (1900). With temperament and freedom, he created extensively painted dynamic battle scenes, historical scenes, genre scenes and numerous portraits. He was fond of painting horses. His paintings, glorifying the Polish military and the heroism of the soldiers, both ancient and contemporary to the artist, appealed to the patriotic feelings of the public and enjoyed great popularity.