Author: Juliusz Kossak
Title: Rider with a Looser (1896)
Technique: watercolor, pencil, paper glued on cardboard
Dimensions in light passe-partout: 24 x 19 cm
Dimensions with frame: 50.5 x 44.5 cm
Signed and dated p.d.: "Juliusz Kossak | 1896"
Artwork description:
Juliusz Kossak mastered the technique of watercolor to perfection, and in his works he most often took up battle and historical subjects. The progenitor of the artistic Kossak family was an avid lover of horses - as a result, they are an almost inseparable element of the compositions he created.
In the presented watercolor, the precise drawing and subtle color range create a coherent whole, possessing high artistic values. The composition consists of a centrally placed group consisting of a rider trotting on a chestnut horse and leading a looser of similar light-brown color next to him. The mustachioed man is dressed in an outfit reminiscent of noble traditions, tied with a wide blue belt; the figure's head is covered with a cap. The rider's striped, reddish pants, on the other hand, are associated with the attire of the krakowiakos. The depicted animals are framed in motion, so you can see the beauty of their silhouettes and working muscles. The rural landscape in the background is built of subtly intermingling green grasses and the outlines of wooden cottages. Note the masterful balancing of the composition by showing tall blades of grass in the lower left corner and trees near the right edge of the picture field.
A similar theme was sometimes taken up by Juliusz Kossak in the 1890s, and is read in the literature as, among other things, a depiction of a generic scene of returning from a fair - which would indeed explain the motif of a rider leading a loose horse purchased a moment ago.
Juliusz Kossak's biography is available on the Krakow Auction House website [SEE].
If you would like to sell Juliusz Kossak's paintings, please contact us [LINK].
