Bernardine Church, View From the East

Odo Dobrowolski

Basic information

ID: Г-II-246
Author: Odo Dobrowolski
Name: Bernardine Church, View From the East
Date of creation: 1914
Technique: drawing
Material: paper on cardboard pastel
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 52 x 48

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: landscape

Information about author

Author: Odo 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 origin. He is mainly known as a graphic artist, particularly a watercolourist, 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 private collections.

Object description

The work was executed in the winter of 1914. The artist presents a view of the historic monastic complex extending westward from the beginning of Lychakivska Street. The urban veduta is depicted in the late evening light. Above the crenellated wall of the fire brigade building (later demolished) are visible the upper part of the former monastery wing and the roof of the Bernardine Church apse. In the upper part of the composition, against a cloudy sky faintly illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun, the eastern gable of the church nave and the tall bell tower dominate the scene. On the left, in the foreground, are the walls of the former monastery of the Poor Clare nuns, highlighted by the light of a solitary street lamp. The movement of a horse-drawn carriage along the snow-covered street enlivens the overall scene. The work is executed in dark, tense tones.

Inscriptions

In the lower right corner, there is the author's signature, place of creation, and date written in italics: “O Dobrowolski Lwów/ 914”.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery