Lot 1154. Leon Wyczolkowski (Huta Miastowska 1852–1936 Warsaw)
Study of a forest, signed and dated on the reverse Leon Wyczolkowski Krakow 1904, oil on board, 24.5 x 40 cm, framed, (Rei)

Leon Wyczółkowski, began his artistic education in Warsaw under Wojciech Gerson (1831-1901) before becoming a student of Alexander Wagner (1838-1919) in Munich.
After his stay in Germany he moved to Krakow, where he studied under Jan Matejko (1838-1893). His first works were heavily influenced by his famous masters, renowned for their historical paintings. From them he also got his taste for depicting architecture, a recurring feature in his oeuvre.
Wyczółkowski’s classic education was enriched by his travels, especially to Paris, which he visited on the occasion of the World’s Fairs in 1878 and 1889. In the French capital he was confronted for the first time with the Barbizon School and for the second time with the Impressionists; both movements profoundly touched his art.
Focusing on the representation of light in his works, he became a plein-air painter. After his return, in 1890 Matjeko co-founded the Modernist group ‘Young Poland’, which in its ideas was very close to other movements set up across Europe by the disenchanted young artists of the time.
Wyczółkowski is probably most famous for his impressionistic, yet realistic, depictions of the working class and fishermen, whom he painted during the ten years he lived in Ukraine. Often they are portrayed outdoors at work, standing in the glistening water, basked in a beautiful Impressionist light.
In 1895 Wyczółkowski retuned to Poland and became a professor at the Krakow School of Fine Arts. The Krakow years and early 1900s were marked by numerous landscape paintings, especially of the Tatra Mountains as well as realistic portraits.
Wyczółkowski was one of Poland’s major graphic artists, trying every technique and depicting every possible subject. His works are exhibited in the National Museums of Krakow and Warsaw

Estimate 5,000-7,000 euro. Dorotheum. 04/27/17