| Artur Grottger, Polonia - complete set of 9 heliogravures (photogravures), Vienna, 1888. |
Complete set of 9 heliogravures (photogravures) depicting scenes from the January Uprising of 1863. On heavy paper, size 34 x 29 cm, in very good to excellent condition. Published by Franciszek Bondy in Vienna in 1888.
Titles are in Polish and French:
1. Obraz symboliczny Polski - Tableau symbolique de la Pologne
2. Pobór w nocy - Recrutement pendant la nuit
3. Kucie kos - On apprête les fauches
4. Bitwa - La bataille
5. Schronisko rannych - Le refuge des blessés
6. Obrona dworu - La défense des assiégés
7. Spustoszenie - Dévastation
8. Żałoba - Le deuil
9. W lesie po bitwie - Après la bataille
There is a very good article about this series in Polish Wikipedia with title: Polonia (cykl)
Polonia (series)
Polonia – a series of nine black-and-white drawings by the Polish
painter Artur Grottger depicting scenes from the January Uprising of 1863. It is
part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.
The circumstances of the creation of the cycle
Artur Grottger intended to take part in the January Uprising and for this
purpose in March 1863 he came to Lviv in order to get from there to the Russian
Partition . However, he was stopped by his friends who dissuaded him from this
idea. The artist was in poor health and, what is more, he was the only
breadwinner in the family, which is why he ultimately decided not to take part
in the fight. He returned to Vienna with his mother and sister . However, the
artist was directly connected with the fate of the uprising. In 1864, the
artist's younger brother Jarosław Grottger was exiled to Siberia for
participating in the uprising. The painter himself was also prosecuted in Vienna
for the help he provided to the insurgents escaping from the Russian Partition.
Due to police harassment, he was forced to leave Vienna in 1865.
He represented the 19th-century approach to art and considered it his mission to
dedicate his work to the cause of the independence of his homeland. Unable to
fight in the uprising, he tried to fight with his art. Although he never saw the
events of the January Uprising with his own eyes, he created two series of
drawings dedicated to this freedom uprising: Polonia (made in 1863 and
presenting the course of events in the Kingdom of Poland ) and Lithuania (made
in the years (1864–1866) dedicated to Lithuania ) . They became a patriotic
inspiration for many generations of Poles.
Grottger drew some of the drawings from the Polonia series during his short stay
in the country. These were the first three cartoons of the series: Branka, Kucie
kos and Bitwa . The rest of the works were created in the artist's Viennese
studio. In November 1863, the drawings were exhibited in the halls of the
Kunstverein. The series was purchased by the Hungarian János Pálffy, who donated
it to the Budapest museum.
Artur Grottger
Artur Grottger (11 November 1837 – 13 December 1867) was a Polish
Romantic painter and graphic artist, one of the most prominent artists of the
mid 19th century under the partitions of Poland, despite a life cut short by
incurable illness.
Biography
Grottger was born in Ottyniowice, Eastern Galicia (now Otynevychi, Ukraine) to
Jan Józef Grottger, a Polish officer of German origin commanding the Uhlans'
Regiment called Warszawskie Dzieci (the Warsaw Children) during the failed
November Uprising against the Russians (1831); an amateur artist himself, with
many areas of passion.
At age 11, Artur Grottger was sent from a quiet estate to study painting in Lwów
under the apprenticeship of Jan Kanty Maszkowski (1848–1852), (together with
Stanisław Tarnowski) and (briefly) Juliusz Kossak. In 1852 he embarked on a
journey to Kraków (then in the Austrian Partition) to attend classes at the Jan
Matejko Academy of Fine Arts. He studied under Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and
Wojciech Kornel Stattler. In 1855–1858 he went to the academy in Vienna and
studied under Karl von Blaas and Christian Ruben. While in Austria, he travelled
to Munich, Venice and to Hungary, where he met his biggest future sponsor and
benefactor, Count Aleksander Pappenheim. He returned to Poland in 1865 upon the
collapse of the January Uprising.
For a time, Grottger moved between the estates of Polish art lovers in Podolia,
among others in Manor House of Stanisław Tarnowski in Śniatynka, there he
painted numerous paintings for the cycle Lithuania. In 1866 he met his fiancée
Wanda Monné, a young Polish patriot; and spent a lot of time at her house.
However, he also developed tuberculosis. In 1867 he went to Paris hoping to make
more money; visited Hôtel Lambert, and met with Jean-Léon Gérôme. His illness
was getting worse and worse. He went to a sanatorium at Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda
in the Pyrénées, where he died on 13 December 1867. His body was brought back to
Poland by his fiancée and buried at the Lwów Cemetery on 4 July 1868.
Artistic career
Grottger painted mostly epic battle scenes, portraits, and horses. He produced
some of his most famous paintings while in Vienna. During his stay in occupied
Poland, he poured all of his talent and energy into depicting the hopes and
horrors of the failed Polish insurrections in several series of black-and-while
panels including Warszawa, Polonia, Lithuania and Wojna (1863–1867) which
brought him no income. The series titled "Polonia" included eight boards,
depicting the grim realities of everyday life and struggle under Russian
occupation. "Polonia" was a response to the failed insurrection of 1863–65. His
last painting was his self-portrait.
In 1908, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, whose own father had been caught up in the
insurrection and had been arrested, completed his magnum opus, the Symphony in B
minor "Polonia", which was inspired by Grottger's series of paintings.