Lviv. St Mary’s Square

Odo Dobrowolski

Basic information

ID: Г-I-601
Author: Odo Dobrowolski
Name: Lviv. St Mary’s Square
Date of creation: 1907
Technique: drawing
Material: paper watercolour Indian ink
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 29.8 x 31.8

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 earliest urban landscapes, created before his trip to Paris. The view depicts St Mary’s Square from the north, along Hetmanska Street, where a red electric tram turns. Next to it, a wooden carriage drawn by a white horse forms one of the composition’s most prominent focal points. On the right of the foreground, directly on the cobblestones, stands a two-wheeled cart. Behind it, near the Fountain of the Virgin Mary, a small crowd of people is depicted. The artist emphasises the contrast between the elements of the foreground and the refined architectural ensemble of the square, among which the George Hotel stands out. The Adam Mickiewicz Monument (column) is only subtly visible, serving a secondary role within the overall composition. In terms of colour, bright tones – red, orange, beige, and white – are set against black ink areas representing the figures, tree crowns, and sculptural elements of the column, creating a striking tonal contrast.

Inscriptions

In the lower left part of the work, there is the author’s inscription, “30/08 07 Odo Dobrowolski/ 911 Lwów”, written in italics.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery