Julian Fałat, CHMURY W BYSTREJ, 1919

54,6 x 90,3cm - watercolor, gouache, cardboard

Signed l.d.: jFałat | Bystra 1919 [initials tied].

On the reverse a fragment of a sticker of the Feliks Richling Art Salon in Warsaw (stamp, print, ink): [4446] | Author Julian Fałat | [Dzi]eło p.t. "Clouds" | [Ro]genre [work] Watercolor.



Julian Fałat was a master of watercolor, and his landscapes are distinguished by his extraordinary ability to capture fleeting atmospheric phenomena, especially clouds and the light seeping from between them. His landscape painting was not just a faithful reproduction of nature, but a profound study of mood and the play of light. Fałat created with extraordinary verve and panache. As an undisputed master of watercolor, proficient in this technique, he boldly poured colors on paper, creating unique works.

In the presented landscape, the artist does not imitate nature, but with quick projections of contrasting colors, he gives us a sincere feeling of it. The clouds in his painting are not a static background, but a dynamic, living element of the landscape. The artist painted them with free, blurred patches, making them appear to be in constant motion, changing their shape.

The year 1919 was a special time - Fałat, already after the war had ended and Poland had regained its independence, painted with renewed energy, and his landscapes acquired a dimension of contemplation and reverie. The work created in Bystra exudes lightness and freshness, providing an excellent synthesis of the artist's mature style. Fałat highlighted the clouds that dominate the landscape on display, while omitting irrelevant details. The view, saturated with peace, tranquility and devoid of human presence, reveals the transcendent dimension of Nature. By painting a fragment of the landscape, Fałat will create a landscape that is universal, timeless and filled with a poetic sense of light.



Julian Fałat (Tuligłowy [Lviv district] 1853 - Bystra near Bielsko 1929) - painter and pedagogue - one of the most outstanding Polish artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, member of Polish and European creative associations and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, repeatedly awarded medals at international exhibitions. He studied painting with Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and Leon Dembowski at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow (1868-71 and 1881) and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Alexander Strähuber and Johan Leonhardt Raab (1877-80). After his studies he spent several months in Rome, in 1884 he was in Paris and Spain, and in 1885 he made a sea voyage around the world. In 1886, while hunting with the Prince Radziwill family in Nesvizh, he met the later German Emperor Wilhelm II - for whom he then worked as a court painter in Berlin in 1886-95. In 1894-96 he collaborated with Wojciech Kossak on the Berezina panorama. In 1895 he was appointed director of the School of Fine Arts in Cracow, where he thoroughly reformed the teaching system, transforming the school into a modern Academy of Fine Arts (r.1900). He was rector of the Academy until 1910; after retiring, he settled in Bystra near Bielsko. An excellent watercolorist, he also painted in oils. In his earlier period he worked in the realist convention, with time he lightened and enriched his palette, and in watercolors he introduced an overflowing color patch. He became famous as a painter of hunting scenes usually set in winter scenery; he also painted landscapes, rural genre scenes, portraits and urban views.