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The Comédie-Française

Odo Dobrowolski

Basic information

ID: Г-V-32
Author: Odo Dobrowolski
Name: The Comédie-Française
Date of creation: 1911
Technique: drawing
Material: paper Indian ink coloured pencil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 24 x 33.5

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, primarily known as a master of graphic art and lithography, as well as an exceptional watercolourist and pastellist.
He was born into the family of Józef Dobrowolski, an official at the Austrian governorship of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and Eugenia Wittich. The artist was likely named after Otto the Great, the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. After graduating from a gymnasium in Lviv, in the mid-1900s he studied in Kraków as a non-degree student at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Between 1908 and 1909, thanks to the support of the painter Jan Styka, Dobrowolski lived in Paris, followed by a brief stay in Munich. Upon returning to Lviv, between 1909 and 1910, the artist executed an oil decorative panel for the confectionery of Gabriela Zapolska – a famous playwright, actress, and one of the most prominent figures of the local bohemian elite. In 1911–1912, he worked in Paris once again. Following his return to Lviv, during the Russian occupation of the city during the First World War, he created a highly popular series of ten lithographs.
In June 1915, alongside the retreating Russian forces, the artist departed for Kyiv, where in 1917 the 34-year-old master died under unresolved circumstances.
The creative heritage of Odo Dobrowolski encompasses numerous cityscapes featuring views of Lviv and Paris, alongside portraits, interior sketches, and nature studies. His works are held in Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, the National Museum in Kraków, the National Library and the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, as well as in private collections.

Object description

The work was created during the artist’s second stay in Paris (1911–1912). It depicts a fragment of Paris on a rainy evening. In the foreground is the corner of the Comédie-Française with a sculpture on its pedestal. A number of formally dressed men in black cloaks, white scarves, and top hats, as well as a few women – presumably attending a premiere – are gathered nearby. In the background, the silhouettes of buildings dissolve into the mist. The composition is rendered in subdued grey tones. Orange street lamps beside the sculpture and the bright vertical stripes glinting on the top hats serve as accentuating elements. The Comédie-Française was established in the 17th century. By the late 18th century, it had been relocated to a building appended to the Palais Royal. It remains the only state-funded theatre in Paris.

Inscriptions

In the lower left corner, there is a place of creation of the work and the author's signature “Odo Dobrowolski / 911 Paryż Komedya francuzka” in italics.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

The Comédie-Française

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