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Self-Portrait with a Skull

Odo Dobrowolski

  • Self-Portrait with a Skull 2
Basic information
ID
Г-I-608
Author
Odo Dobrowolski
Name
Self-Portrait with a Skull
Date of creation
1908
Technique
drawing
Material
paper on cardboard watercolour
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
39.5 x 27.5
Additionally
Type
graphic art
Genre
portraiture
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
A similar self-portrait, in which the artist is depicted wearing a shirt rather than a sweater, dated 14 June 1908, was exhibited at the Desa auction (Poland) in 2006. It is likely that this work, like the Lviv portrait, was executed during the artist’s first visit to Paris. In the portrait, the artist (aged 26) poses with his left hand holding a brush resting on a skull, supported by his right hand. The skull and the broad cap on his head are the primary attributes of the sitter. The artist pays particular attention to the rendering of the hands and face: the fingers are long and slender, the expression confident and somewhat fastidious. The effect is achieved through a masterful execution of flesh tones in watercolour.
Inscriptions
In the lower left part of the work, there is an inscription “Autoportret” written in italics in red colour. In the lower right part there is the author’s signature and date written in italics: “Odo Dobrowolski 08”.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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