(Szczebrzeszym 1841-1915 Radom)
Returning Home, “Patient Transport (Polish Camp)”, signed, dated Jozef Brandt 1865, oil on canvas, 50.5 x 74.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Gustav August Holland (1880–1935), Janikowa;
His heirs - Private Collection Germany.

Catalogued in:
Józef von Brandt 1841-1915, catalogue raisonné, edited by Ewa Micke-Broniarek, National Museum Warsaw, Warsaw 2018, p. 30, no. I.17.

Born in 1841 in Szczebrzeszyn, Poland, Józef von Brandt made the acquaintance of his compatriot and horse painter Julius Kossak during his engineering studies at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris in 1859. Kossak immediately recognised his talent and probably encouraged him to pursue an artistic education. Together with Kossak, the young Brandt travelled several times to Poland and Ukraine to study painting before continuing his education in Munich. In 1863 he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and during his studies he became a central figure in the Polish artists‘ colony in Munich, which included Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski and Ladislaus von Czachórski. In the following years he trained as a pupil in the private studio of the well-known horse painter Franz Adam. Brandt appeared in public with paintings early on and showed one of his works in Krakow in 1863. He also opened his own studio as early as 1867.
Joszef von Brandt, who achieved great fame with his large battle paintings that dealt with the Polish wars of the 17th century against the Tartars, the Swedes and the Turks, thus made a name for himself in two worlds, firstly, in the circle of Munich painters, where he was regularly represented at the Munich annual exhibitions from 1889 onwards and was awarded the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown, and secondly, in his native Poland, where he was offered the directorship of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (Akademia Szutek Pieknych w Krakowie) in 1891. With the opening of his Munich studio and his close ties to the Bavarian royal family, as well as his brilliant successes at international exhibitions, his reputation grew, as did the interest in his paintings, which were skillfully executed. His works are characterised by a concise colourfulness and clever perspective, which lends vividness to the scenes. Most of his paintings show a departure or a journey through the steppe, but he never lacks horses, which he captures so wonderfully, as can be seen in the present lot.
The painting, dated 1865, falls into his early creative period and shows an ambulance that is probably on its way home. This painting proves that Brandt already knew how to stage this painterly genre early on in his career. The scene conveys a liveliness and the effort of the carriage to overcome the hill is almost palpable. The horses at the head of the cart, on which two wounded men are lying, as well as the soldiers helping to push the cart, are skilfully rendered in perspective. The composition, dramatically staged throughout, seems wildly moving and shows a recurring motif in Brandt‘s genre: a scene of a departure, a journey. It is, however, not clear whether we are dealing with soldiers returning home, Cossacks at peace or at war.