UK
Back

Uhlan Giving Alms

Adam Malinowski

  • Uhlan Giving Alms 2
  • Uhlan Giving Alms 3
Basic information
ID
Ж-4377
Author
Adam Malinowski
Name
Uhlan Giving Alms
Date of creation
1858
Country
Poland
Technique
oil painting
Material
canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
37 x 48.5
Additionally
Type
painting
Genre
genre art narrative art
Provenance
Lviv Historical Museum
Information about author
Author
Adam Malinowski
Artist's lifetime
1829–1892
Country
Poland
Biography
Adam Wiktor Malinowski (December 13, 1829, Lublin – May 4, 1892, Warsaw) was a Polish painter and theatrical decorator. He received his initial artistic education in his father's workshop. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw and later in Vienna and Munich. From 1851, he worked at the Warsaw State Theatre Studio as an assistant to Antonio Sacchetti. From 1864, he worked in Vienna as a set designer for the Imperial Theatres. In 1873, he became the chief decorator of the Warsaw State Theatres. His operas, dramas, and ballet decorations were distinguished by "beautiful texture, precision of drawing, and knowledge of stage effects". In addition, the artist engaged in easel painting, predominantly creating landscapes and, less frequently, genre scenes and portraits. An unparalleled landscape painter, Malinowski possessed an extraordinarily light painting technique and a remarkable ability to capture the essence of Polish nature and sky. His favourite themes were forest and rural landscapes and views of ruins and mills. The artist's works were exhibited at the Zacheta in Warsaw, the Kryvult Salon, and the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Krakow. Among his students were Jozef Guranowski, Karol Klopfer, and Aleksander Kozlowski. Adam Malinowski's paintings are held in private collections and museums in Poland and Ukraine.
Object description
A rectangular horizontal multi-planar composition. The narrative and meaningful centre of the painting, which coincides with the centre of the canvas, is highlighted by light. In the foreground, a family of beggars is depicted at a crossroads near a brick chapel pillar. A weary woman in a white scarf sits on the ground under the pillar, holding a baby in her arms, while her husband, leaning on a crutch and a stick, is asking passersby for alms. The artist captures the moment when a young Polish uhlan rides up to them on a white horse. He carries a spear with a white-and-red flag on his back. The uhlan is giving the man alms and possibly saying something to him. A watermill is depicted in the background to the right against a backdrop of green trees. To the left, in the distance, the streambed is barely visible as it fades into the horizon. Both the characters and objects in the foreground and background are meticulously rendered. Half the composition is occupied by the astonishingly changeable sky, much like human life – dark and rainy on one side (over the river) and bright blue with fluffy clouds on the other (over the mill).
Inscriptions
In the bottom left, there is the artist's signature and the date: "p. A. Malinowski 1858".
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Other