oil on canvas/cardboard, 31x40.5 (inner dimensions of the frame), signed lower right: Zygmuntowicz (from around 1930, he began signing his works with the pseudonym “Zygmuntowicz”). This signature is visible in the lower right corner of the painting shown here. Certificate from the Sopot Auction House
private collection—Gdynia
He lived and worked in Warsaw. He taught himself the art of painting. Reportedly, in 1911, he enrolled at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. It is believed that he was a student of Wojciech Kossak. Critics attributed these assumptions to the fact that in the early 1920s, Zygmuntowicz prepared so-called underpaintingsfor Kossak and, moreover, alluded to his master’s painting style in his own works. After 1930, Czesław Wasilewski began signing his works with the name “Zygmuntowicz.” Althoughhis paintings drew on the work of artists such as Józef Brandt, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, and Józef Chełmoński, Zygmuntowicz’s works are distinguished by their creative individuality. He most often depicted winter landscapes, sleighs, horse-drawn carriages, hunting scenes, and battle scenes. He participated in national painting exhibitions on numerous occasions. His works were frequently exhibitedat the Society for the Encouragement ofFine Artsin Warsaw. The artist’s paintings are included, among other places, in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw.
