Roman Kochanowski, BY THE STREAM, ca. 1905

32.0 x 28.0cm - oil, cardboard On the back:

- circular stamp: KOCHANOWSKI | NACHLASS | II | KOCHANOWSKI;

- below facsimile of initials: R K;

- on upper frame strip sticker: Museum | Jacek Malczewski | in Radom | V-IX 2007 | MALARSTWO ROMANA KOCHANOWSKIEGO | 1857-1945;

- next to sticker with no. (in red marker): P.15;

- next to a sticker with a handwritten description of the painting.



Provenance:

- Property of the artist's family.

- Property of Barbara Lewkowicz-Odojewska - art historian, long-time employee of the Polish Radio Free Europe Broadcasting Station.

- After the exhibition in Radom in 2007, purchased by the current owner.



The painting exhibited and reproduced in:

- Roman Kochanowski [1857-1945]. On the 150th anniversary of his birth, [collective work: Zofia Katarzyna Posiadała, Barbara Lewkowicz, Marek Sołtysik, Włodzimierz Odojewski], Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom, Radom 2007, p. 233, cat. no. 80, il. on p. 130 [Genre Scene, ca. 1905 - owned by Barbara Lewkowicz-Odojewska].

Roman Kochanowski (Krakow 1857 - Freising near Munich 1945) - painter and graphic artist - was one of the Polish artists settled and permanently active in Munich. He began his studies in painting in Cracow; initially in the private studio of Maksymilian Cerch, and in 1873- 1875 at the School of Fine Arts under Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and landscape painter Henryk Grabiński. For the next two years he still studied at the landscape department of the Vienna Academy. In 1881 he moved to Munich, where he had his own studio and soon started a family. However, he often came to Cracow, visited Poznan, traveled through Galicia and Podolia, drawing landscapes and views of cities, which were later included in an album published in Vienna in 1898. The artist belonged to the Munich Kunstverein, participated in many exhibitions in Germany, Vienna, London; he also sent his works to national shows. He painted primarily landscapes and only rarely flowers and portraits. A constant and favorite motif of his paintings was the Polish landscape near Krakow, with people's figures woven into it. The artist's paintings, often painted on small boards and devoid of an anecdotal layer, are characterized by unusual painterly qualities, color harmony and a lyrical mood. Noted and awarded at numerous exhibitions, they were also highly valued in the art market. In 1892, after an exhibition in Vienna, one of Kochanowski's paintings was purchased for his collection by Emperor Franz Joseph; two others were acquired by members of the imperial family. Karol Joseph Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, was an admirer of his paintings. The artist's great sensitivity to landscape and nature is also evident in his drawings and etchings.
Kochanowski's work was recently recalled by a monographic exhibition of his works organized at the Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom in 2007. The exhibition - also shown in Katowice, Sandomierz, Szczecin, Gdansk, Piotrków Trybunalski - was accompanied by a richly illustrated catalog, which is a compendium of knowledge about the artist (see: Roman Kochanowski [1857-1945]. On the 150th anniversary of his birth, [edited and compiled by Z. K. Posiadała], Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom, Radom 2007).