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Portrait of Seweryn Obst

Odo Dobrowolski

Basic information

ID: Г-II-203
Author: Odo Dobrowolski
Name: Portrait of Seweryn Obst
Date of creation: 1907
Technique: drawing
Material: paper on wood panel pastel
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 38 x 40.5

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: portraiture
Provenance: Museum of Jan III Sobieski in Lviv Courtesy of Helena Dabczanska

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

The portrait of the artist Seweryn Obst was executed by Odo Dobrowolski on 27 December 1907 to commemorate the 60th birthday of the celebrated painter. It is a shoulder-length profile portrait, showing the artist with thoughtful eyes, a fine straight nose, wavy hair brushed back, and a beard already touched with grey. The jubilarian is depicted in festive attire – a suit jacket, tie, and shirt with a white collar. On the left, a hand holding a brush is visible, rendered with long, slender fingers. It is the hand of the portrait subject, depicted as perceptive and deeply psychological. Seweryn Obst (1847–1917) was a Galician painter and ethnographer of Polish descent. He was born in the village of Nyzhnii Bereziv (former Berezów Niżny) in the Kosiv region and received his early education in the Hutsul region. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Obst painted Hutsuls and collected Hutsul folk crafts. From 1883 he lived in Lviv. He died at the age of 69 in a home for the elderly.

Inscriptions

In the upper left part of the work, there is the author’s signature, dedication, and the date “Odo Dobrowolski / Sewera / w 60 rocznicę urodzenia./ 27/12 07” written in italics. On the back side there are several handwritten numbers and 2 labels. On the largest label the text “Muzeum Narodowe im. Króla Jana III we Lwowie / z daru Helena Dąbczańskiej. No inw. 202” is printed in ink. In the middle there is the inscription “Dobrowolski Odo: / Portrait of an Obsta, / art.-nal./ Pastel / 38 x 40.5” written in ink.

Portrayed person