(Suwalki 1849–1915 Munich)
A Cheerful Coach Journey, signed A. W. Kowalski, oil on canvas, 78 x 107 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private Collection Austria.

Born in 1849, the painter Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski is one of the most important Polish artists of the 19th century. He spent the first years of his life surrounded by forests and lakes on an estate near the town of Suwalki, before the family moved to Kalisch in 1865. Both places had been integrated into the Russian Tsarist Empire in the 19th century.At the age of 19, Wierusz-Kowalski began taking drawing lessons in Warsaw and shortly thereafter transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden, where he studied the works of the Old Masters more closely. In 1872 he moved to Prague and worked as a freelance painter. The period from 1873 onwards was of particular importance, as he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and subsequently became a representative of the so-called Munich School. This style of painting of the 19th and early 20th centuries was typically applied in depictions of landscapes and portraits and is characterised by accuracy and naturalism, i.e. the depiction of visible reality. The Munich School was promoted by King Ludwig I, who also provided the representatives of this style of painting with a presentation space for their works of art by founding the Neue Pinakothek.Wierusz-Kowalski travelled to North Africa at the beginning of the 20th century, which influenced his style and expanded his motifs to include oriental views. Munich was to remain his centre of life until his death in 1915.

Already in his childhood Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski undertook extended carriage and sleigh rides with his family. He took up this motif again and again, and the scenes depicted take place almost exclusively in his native Poland. Another frequent motif are wolves, which became one of his favourite subjects. Experiencing an attack by wolves while he was travelling as a child with his family in the sled must have made a lasting impression on him. In the present lot two amused ladies are drawn by a grey horse in a single-axle horse cart. The latter is followed in the background by a carriage with multiple people visible. The horse in front is galloping wildly. The speed is additionally emphasised by the fact that the cart is raising a cloud of dust and by one of the ladies holding her headdress to prevent it from being lost in the wind. The dog running alongside seems to understand the spirited ride as an invitation to a race. Its cheerfulness underlines the atmosphere of this picture. The warm colours of the trees and leaves suggest a late summer or autumn ride. The interplay of light and shadow lends the painting a vibrancy that is enhanced by the young women‘s colourful scarves.