UK
Collection

Lviv. The Building of the Galician Sejm

Odo Dobrowolski

  • Lviv. The Building of the Galician Sejm 2
Basic information
ID
Г-IV-5173
Author
Odo Dobrowolski
Name
Lviv. The Building of the Galician Sejm
Date of creation
1915
Technique
colour autolithography
Material
imprint on paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
39.8 x 26.8
Additionally
Type
printmaking
Genre
landscape
Information about author
Author
Odo Dobrowolski
Artist's lifetime
1883–1917
Biography
Odo (Otton) Dobrowolski (1883, Chernivtsi – 1917, Kyiv) was a Lviv artist of Polish-German origin. He is mainly known as a graphic artist, in particular a watercolorist, a master of pastels and lithographs. His parents were Jozef Dobrowolski, the Austrian governor of Galicia-Lodomeria, and Eugenia Wittich. Apparently, the artist was named after Otto the Great, the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He graduated from the gymnasium in Lviv. In the mid-1900s, Dobrowolski was in Krakow as a non-degree student of the Academy of Fine Arts. Between 1908 and 1909, thanks to the support of the artist Jan Styka, he was in Paris and then in Munich for a short while. After returning to Lviv between 1909 and 1910, the artist made an oil decorative panel for the confectionery of Gabriela Zapolska, a famous playwright, actress, and a bright representative of the Lviv elite. In 1911 and 1912, he was in Paris again. Then he was in Lviv, where during the Russian occupation he created a series of 10 lithographs, which were very popular. In June 1915, during the retreat of the Russians, the artist went to Kyiv, where he died under uncertain circumstances at the age of 34 in 1917. The artistic heritage of Odo Dobrowolski includes numerous cityscapes, particularly views of Lviv and Paris, as well as portraits, interior sketches, and images of nature. The works are stored in Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, as well as in the National Museum in Krakow, the National Library in Warsaw, the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, and in private collections.
Object description
This is one of ten works from the series of lithographs with the views of Lviv during the Russian occupation in the winter of 1915. The main facade of the building of the Galician Sejm (now Ivan Franko National University of Lviv) is depicted in a side view, from the then 3rd May Street (now Sichovykh Striltsiv Street). Only the risalit with one of the sculptures is clearly visible. However, even the lantern in front of the Sejm is not alight, as the deputies have no session there. In perspective, the corner of the building of the Austro-Hungarian Bank stands out as one of the main components of this cityscape. The work is performed in dimmed gray tones. Both the snow and the sky are depicted blackened.
Inscriptions
In the lower right corner there is the author's signature and date “Оdo Dobrowolski / 915” written in italics.

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