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Halytska Square in Lviv

Odo Dobrowolski

Basic information

ID: Г-I-41
Author: Odo Dobrowolski
Name: Halytska Square in Lviv
Country: Austro-Hungarian Empire
Technique: drawing
Material: paper watercolour Indian ink
Dimensions: 30 x 35.5 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: landscape
Plot: City landscape
Provenance: Collection of Leon Pininski

Information about author

Author: Odo Dobrowolski
Author in the original: Odo (Otton) Dobrowolski
Artist's lifetime: 1883–1917
Country: Austro-Hungarian Empire
Biography: Odo (Otton) Dobrowolski (1883, Chernivtsi – 1917, Kyiv) was a Lviv artist of Polish-German descent, known primarily as a graphic artist and master of lithography, as well as for his refined works in watercolour and pastel.
He was born into the family of Józef Dobrowolski, an official at the Austrian Governorship of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and Eugenia Wittich. The artist was likely named after Otto the Great, the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. After graduating from a gymnasium in Lviv, in the mid-1900s he studied in Krakow as a non-matriculated student at the Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1908–1909, with the support of the painter Jan Styka, Dobrowolski lived in Paris before spending a brief period in Munich. Upon returning to Lviv, in 1909–1910, he painted a decorative oil panel for the confectionery of Gabriela Zapolska – a renowned playwright, actress, and one of the most prominent figures of the city's high society of the time. In 1911–1912, Odo worked in Paris once again. Following his return to Lviv, during the russian occupation of the city in the First World War, he created a series of ten lithographs that gained wide acclaim.
In June 1915, he left for Kyiv alongside the retreating russian troops, where the 34-year-old artist died in 1917 under unexplained circumstances.
The artist's oeuvre encompasses numerous cityscapes featuring views of Lviv and Paris, as well as portraits, interior sketches, and life studies. His works are held in Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, the National Museum in Krakow, the National Library and the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, as well as in private collections.

Object description

A Lviv cityscape of the early 20th century. On the right, the artist has captured the townhouses on Halytska Square; on the left, a perspective of Stefan Batory Street (now Kniazia Romana Street). The centre of the composition is formed by the vertical of a street lamp at the intersection. In the middle ground, the monumental building of the former Provincial Court dominates, with human figures fading into the distance beside it.
In the foreground on the right, the figure of a man in a blue overcoat is highlighted. On the left, near an advertising column, a woman is depicted stepping forward, also dressed in blue. The author emphasises the pristine condition of the pavements and roadways, which appear to have been recently resurfaced. In the far distance, the evening sky takes on pink hues from the glow of the setting sun.

Inscriptions

Signed and dated bottom left: "O. Dobr 908"; inscribed right: "Plac Halicki/molo".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Halytska Square in Lviv

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