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Sleigh

Jozef Chelmonski

Basic information

ID: Ж-947
Author: Jozef Chelmonski
Name: Sleigh
Country: Poland
Technique: oil painting
Material: cardboard oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 34.6 x 65

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: animal painting landscape
Provenance: the Lubomirski collection

Information about author

Author: Jozef Chelmonski
Artist's lifetime: 1849–1914
Country: Poland
Biography: Jozef Marian Chelmonski (7 November 1849, Boсzki, Poland – 6 April 1914, Kuklowka Zarzeczna, Poland) was a Polish painter and illustrator, a prominent representative of Realism. He studied painting in 1867 at the Warsaw Drawing Class and in Wojciech Gerson's studio. From 1871 to 1874, he continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. The Munich community of Polish artists had a significant influence on the painter. From 1875 to 1887, he lived in Paris, where he worked as an illustrator for the French magazine "Le Monde Illustré". During these same years, Chelmonski made several trips to Ukraine and Lithuania, the impressions of which played an essential role in shaping his artistic style. In 1889, he returned to Poland and settled in the village of Kuklowka Zarzeczna. Since 1869, Chelmonski had been exhibiting his works at the Warsaw Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts. He participated in the Paris Salons in 1876, 1878, and 1882. He presented his art in Chicago (1893), Vienna (1898), and Düsseldorf (1904). The artist's solo exhibitions were held in Warsaw (1890, 1907), Krakow (1907), and Lviv (1907). The artist received numerous accolades, including the Grand Prize at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, a gold medal at the Munich Exhibition (1894), and a gold medal at the World's Fair of Art in San Francisco (1894). In 1897, Jozef Chelmonski was appointed honorary president of the Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka", established in Krakow. In the artist's body of work, dynamic compositions featuring images of horse-drawn carriages and Polish villages with their markets and fairs alternate with static landscapes painted in a sketchy style, which are often devoid of staffage but sometimes enriched with silhouettes of animals or birds.

Object description

Genre scenes from Polish village life and canvases depicting horses galloping through the steppes or across snowy fields, along with the complex construction of perspective in depicting animals and people, are a "trademark" of Jozef Chelmonski. The artist thoroughly understood horse anatomy and behaviour, which allowed him to achieve professional excellence in depicting these animals from various angles. The exquisitely rendered figure of a horse – whether captured in motion or "posing" for a portrait – has long been a synonym for Polishness in world art. The dynamic composition "Sleigh" is a striking example of the artist's virtuoso craftsmanship. Against a snow-covered plain, where the horizon blurs between the overcast, heavy sky and the ground, a bay horse gallops, harnessed to a sleigh. In the sleigh sits a young peasant dressed in a white fur coat with a collar and a hat. In the man's right hand is a whip. Snow is flying up from under the horse's hooves, and startled birds are visible to the right. The primary expressive tool in this piece is the effect of the horse's rapid motion, paired with a palette of contrasting white and dark brown colours. The composition shows a noticeable influence of Impressionism.

Inscriptions

At the bottom left is the author's signature: "Józef Chełmoński".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Sleigh

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