Józef Chełmoński, LANDSCAPE WITH CHATS, 1900-1910

17,3 x 30,0cm - oil, duplicated canvas Along the bottom edge - inscription-attestation (pen, black ink), made by the painter's daughter Jadwiga: Authenticity of the sketch of my late Father Jozef Chelmonski I affirm Jadwiga Chelmonska.

On the upper loom strip, on the right a fragment of a sticker, on the lower strip - an inscription (in red crayon): 337



The painting is accompanied by an opinion by Tadeusz Matuszczak dated September 2023.



Provenance: The painting comes from the well-known collection of Feliks Lopienski (1866-1941) and Józefa (1886-1980) of Walewska Lopienski in Warsaw. Feliks - a pewter artist, bronzer, social activist - was co-owner of the world-famous Lopienski Brothers bronzing company (1884-1950). All indications are that, Lopienski acquired the painting directly from Jadwiga Chelmonska of Kuklówka. Until now, the work has been in the collections of the heirs of Feliks and Józefa.

The featured painting is an excellent example of Chelmonski's fascination with the flat Mazovian landscape. The work fascinates, typical of Chełmoński's sketches, with the virtuosity of the painter's technique and the truth and simplicity of the depicted scene, imbued with a strong sympathy with nature and a poetic, affectionate mood. The sketch impresses with painterly freedom. The refined simplicity of the composition and painterly qualities of the work, confirms my conviction that it comes from the summation period of the painter's achievements (...), somewhere around 1900-1910 (after the opinion of Tadeusz Matuszczak).



Józef Chełmoński (Boczki near Łowicz 1849 - Kuklówka near Grodzisk Mazowiecki 1914) was one of the best-known representatives of Polish realist painting, the creator of vast landscapes from Ukraine and Podolia, of speeding horse-drawn carriages - the well-known Trojek and Four - as well as rural genre scenes and atmospheric landscapes of Mazovia. The artist - in 1867-1871 - studied under Wojciech Gerson at the Warsaw Drawing Class. From 1871 to 1874 he stayed in Munich, where he briefly studied at the Academy with Hermann Anschütz and Alexander Strähuber, and where his work was significantly influenced by his encounter with Polish "Munichists," mainly Jozef Brandt and Maksymilian Gierymski. He spent the next twelve years in Paris. His stay there brought him fame and recognition - he exhibited at the official Paris Salons, and many of his works found buyers among European and American collectors. He returned to Poland in 1887, lived in Warsaw for two years and then settled permanently in the Kuklówka estate in Mazovia. The paintings he painted at the time were mainly atmospheric landscapes often with bird or animal motifs, in which the artist expressed his emotional and admiring attitude to nature. In addition to his painting work, Chelmonski was also involved in graphic art and illustration - between 1884 and 1892 he collaborated, for example, with the Parisian "Le Monde Illustré."