Michał Gorstkin Wywiórski, IN THE MOUNTAINS

105.5 x 95.5 cm - oil on canvas

signed lower left: M. G. Wywiórski
On the reverse, on the upper rail of the frame, an auction label
Agra-Art from 2019

Michał Gorstkin Wywiórski (Warsaw 1861 – Berlin 1926) studied in Munich from 1883 to 1887; at the Academy under professors Karl Raup and Nikolaus Gysis, and concurrently in the private studios of Józef Brandt and Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski. In 1884, he made his debut at an exhibition at the TPSP in Kraków; he also exhibited his works in Munich, where, in 1894, he was awarded a medal for his painting *From the Lithuanian Forest* at the international exhibition at the Glaspalast. In 1895, he moved to Berlin, invited by Wojciech Kossak and Julian Fałat to work on the panorama *Berezyna* (1895–1896). He settled in Berlin for an extended period, and later stayed in Greater Poland and Warsaw. He also collaborated with Jan Styka on the panorama *The Battle of Sibin* (1897), and in 1900, together with Kossak, he traveled to Spain and Egypt to make plein air sketches for the planned panoramas *Somosierra* (never completed) and *The Battle of the Pyramids* (1901). He also traveled to Lithuania, the island of Sylt, Norway, Sweden, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea, and painted in Amsterdam, the Crimea, and the Caucasus. In the early phase of his career, strongly influenced by Brandt and Wierusz-Kowalski, he painted hunting and genre scenes, as well as paintings featuring Tatars, Cossacks, and Circassians, which brought him success on the Munich art market. Over time, the primary theme of his painting became the pure landscape, perceived and painted with sensitivity and delight.