Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, WYRUSZAJĄC O ŚWICIE, ca. 1880-1885

31.9 x 55.1cm - oil, mahogany board with three sponges signed l.d.: A. Wierusz-Kowalski

on the reverse a fragment of an oval sticker with the number (in ink): 20[.]

Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski (Suwałki 1849 - Munich 1915) - one of the most outstanding Polish painters of the so-called Munich School was, next to Józef Brandt and Władysław Czachórski, also the most popular of the Polish artists settled and permanently active in Munich. He settled there in 1873, having already studied in Warsaw and Dresden. He studied for a year more at Munich's Academy of Fine Arts under Alexander Wagner, before moving to Brandt's private studio. He gained critical and public recognition early on; his paintings, decorated with medals at exhibitions, were coveted by collectors and German dealers. In 1890 he became an honorary professor at the Munich Academy. He painted genre and genre-historical scenes with motifs of horsemen, knights, hunters, horses, wolves and snow. After a trip to Africa in 1903, he also took up oriental themes. Polish museum collections contained relatively few of the artist's works - his paintings sold mainly on the German market in greater numbers went to private collections, mainly in Germany and the United States. Present often appear also on the Polish art market, always arousing the interest of collectors.