Józef Ignacy KRASZEWSKI (1812-1887), La Tour des Pins (Tower of the Pines), 1866

Lithograph, paper; 24 x 14 cm (light framed);
signed on stone: JIKraszewski together with title, place: Montpellier and date: 17 Sept 1866;
under the composition, handwritten on lithographic stone, four-line inscription: "For a Piece of Happiness and for a Piece of Bread / Everything in the world needs to be paid for / With a penny or a sweat, with a smile or with tears / Paid by parents, children or ourselves / Jan. 20. 1876 / JIKraszewski";
Lithograph made at Aureliusz Pruszyński's Artistic Lithography Workshop in Kraków.
Tower of Pines - one of the few remnants of fortified walls in Montpellier dating back to the 13th century. It is named after the pine trees that grew on top of the 30-meter tower in the 17th century.
In addition to writing, Kraszewski was a skilled illustrator who illustrated his frequent travels in Europe.
Aureliusz Pruszyński (9.09.1847 Kasinka Mała pov. Limanowa - 22.04.1904 Krakow) was a Krakow lithographer, owner of the esteemed Aureliusz Pruszyński Artistic Lithography Establishment in Krakow founded in 1873 at 17 Pijarska Street, from ca 1902 the owner of the establishment was his son Zenon Pruszyński (see SAP vol. 8 pp. 92-93). In the factory of A. Pruszyński, since the end of the 19th century, leading artists of Cracow reflected their graphic works in lithography (including posters), including the famous "Teka Melpomena".