Dimensions: 48 x 67 cm
Signed and dated l.d.: 'W. Wodzinowski | 1927'
on the reverse: stamp of Róża Aleksandrowicz's stockist of painting accessories in Cracow, ownership description on the paper back cover
Biography
One of the so-called "five peasants", an informal grouping formed by alumni of Jan Matejko and the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Wodzinowski himself began his education at Wojciech Gerson's Drawing Class. After years of study on the Isar River, he returned to Poland in 1892 and settled near Krakow, in Swoszowice. In the period 1892-1907, he mainly created large-scale, elaborate multifigural compositions, and his client at the time was Count Ignacy Korwin-Milewski. As the artist's leading funder, he purchased his works, placing them in his private museum on St. Catherine Island in the Adriatic Sea. The artist's most recognizable compositions, such as "On a Peculiar Note" (1889, MNK) and "Rest of the Harvesters" (1893, MNW), date from this time. His work fully expressed the peasant's fascination with the countryside and its life. Wodzinowski's painterly output was dominated by folkloric genre scenes. He also created landscapes and representative portraits of Krakow's socialites. In addition to these scenes from the early years of his artistic activity, there are also compositions of a symbolic nature or even mythological themes. As a soldier who fought during World War I, Wodzinowski is also counted among the legion artists, and this subject matter is an important part of his oeuvre.
