Antoni Piotrowski, Portrait study of a young girl

oil, cardboard, size 40 x 28 cm, signed and dated p.g. "A.Piotrowski 1919"

Extremely prolific, comprehensively talented and thoroughly educated painter, draughtsman, illustrator Antoni Piotrowski (1853 - 1924), as a 21-year-old, was already exhibiting at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He studied under Wojciech Gerson, as well as at art schools in Munich, Paris and Krakow, where he studied under Jan Matejko. He painted not only landscapes and rural scenes (he was the publisher and author of the engravings of the illustrated weekly "Polish Countryside"), but was also the author of excellent portraits. His proficiency as a portraitist is demonstrated here by the portrait study of a young girl presented here - painted lightly, with only sketchy parts of the landscape and the artist's focus on rendering the beauty of the young model's face.