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Lviv. Cityscape

Odo Dobrowolski

  • Lviv. Cityscape 2
Basic information
ID
Г-I-605
Author
Odo Dobrowolski
Name
Lviv. Cityscape
Date of creation
1900s
Technique
drawing
Material
paper on cardboard watercolour Indian ink
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
15.8 x 15.3
Additionally
Type
graphic art
Genre
cityscape
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
One of the artist’s early works, created before his trips to Paris. It depicts a fragment of central Lviv – the view from the George Hotel and the beginning of Henryk Sienkiewicz Street (now Mykola Voronyi Street) towards the intersection of St Mary’s Square (now Adam Mickiewicz Square) and Halytska Square. The compositional focus is a building at the contemporary address Valova Street, No. 2–4, situated in the background on the second plane. On the right, a ground-floor shop window of the George Hotel is shown, bearing the sign “Ubrania męskie” (men’s clothing). The glass reflects the silhouette of the building standing vis-à-vis. Figures of people, rendered in black Indian ink, are present near the window and in the background. In his use of colour, the artist boldly employs tonal contrasts, emphasising spatial depth and the rhythm of the urban landscape.
Inscriptions
In the lower right part of the work, there is an inscription, “Odo Dobr.”, written in italics.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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