Polish painter

PORTRAIT OF AUGUST LEOPOLD HERTZ, PRESIDENT OF KALISZ, 19th century
Oil on canvas mounted on a backing board; 76 x 62.5 cm
Signed lower right: B Kaluch (?)
August Leopold Hertz (1786–1846)—Mayor of Kalisz from 1815 to 1830, and subsequently a government commissioner of the Kingdom of Poland. He was one of the most important officials of the city in the first half of the 19th century. He played a significant role in the city’s development and modernization, including the organization of the municipal police, street lighting, and the expansion and landscaping of the park. After the outbreak of the November Uprising, he resigned from office; he later became a government commissioner and retired in 1840. For his long service, he received the Order of St. Stanislaus, was ennobled, and entered into the Register of the Nobility of the Kingdom of Poland under the Samopęd coat of arms.
The painting depicts the distinctive insignia of his official position: the Order of St. Stanislaus and the Honorary Badge for Long and Impeccable Service (20 years). In the upper right corner is the Samopęd coat of arms of the Hertz family: a shield divided horizontally, with a blue upper field depicting a golden bee and a red lower field with a golden six-pointed star; in the crest, three ostrich feathers.
On the sheet of paper held by the subject, a barely legible inscription is visible, tentatively deciphered as “B. Kaluch” (reading uncertain).
A similar portrait of Hertz, painted by Ludwik Bruhl in 1835, is known (reproduced in: Feliks Hertz, “From the Life of the President,” Kalisia Nowa, 1999, No. (58) 44, p. 8).
Provenance: Warsaw collection
Starting price 10,000
Estimate: 28,000–35,000; inquire about this item