Jerzy Kossak, NAPOLEON'S VISION IN THE RETURN FROM MOSCOW, 1941

48.0 x 83.0 cm - oil, canvas signed l.d.: Jerzy Kossak | 1941



From 1913 comes one of the most famous and popular paintings [first in the series] by Jerzy Kossak: Seeing Napoleon in retreat from under Moscow, with the head of the Sphinx against a background of clouds, reminiscent of the Egyptian victory of the "god of war", who now with his staff and against the backdrop of the endless colonne mourante of his troops is pulling west amidst blizzards, broken by winter and frost. (...) It was Jerzy's favorite composition.

K. Olszański, Jerzy Kossak, Ossolineum, Wrocław, Warsaw, Kraków 1992, p. 18.



♣ a fee will be added to the auctioned price, in addition to other costs, based on the right of the artist and his heirs to receive remuneration in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 - on Copyright and Related Rights (droit de suite).

Jerzy Kossak (Krakow 1886 - Krakow 1955)- son of Wojciech, grandson of Juliusz Kossak- from early childhood painted under the direction of his father and grandfather. A continuator and imitator of their art, he created battle, historical and genre scenes with the omnipresent motif of the horse. He painted pictures of the November Uprising, the Napoleonic Wars and many scenes from the 1920 war. His best-known composition of this kind was Miracle on the Vistula. He also painted numerous Chases and Lancer Chases with Cossacks, Wolf Raids, Hunting and Weddings. The subject matter of these works makes them constantly popular with collectors and the public, always thronging to exhibitions of Kossak paintings.