Every morning in May 1910, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, an important representative of the Munich circle of Polish artists, regarded the cloudy skies over the city with suspicion. Many years after completing his monumental painting (5 x 10 metres), showing the dramatic scene of a pack of wolves attacking a family on a sleigh ride (Ill. 1), he decided to exhibit the work in public. The Old Town Hall where the picture was finally made accessible was also visited by members of the Prince Regent’s family. Prince Regent Luitpold, Prince Ludwig and Princess Gisela, who reviewed the work in the presence of its creator, were full of praise. But what was the use of such well-meant words when, as the artist wrote to his son: “there are only a few people to be seen in the exhibition. What bad luck must I have, that it is dark […], raining ceaselessly since the first day, as cold as it is in December, with the upshot that people are freezing and the room is yawningly empty despite all the advertising and attempts to attract the general public.”[31]
This was a painful experience for the artist, whose works had been highly regarded internationally since his first youthful attempts at painting. Despite the fact that this exhibition of his work failed to enjoy any success the artist’s creations still arouse worldwide interest.
[31] Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski to his son Czesław, München, May 1910. Instytut Sztuki PAN w Warszawie [the Art Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw].
Mediathek Sorted
Fig. 1 Attack by wolves
Abb. 2 View of Suwałki seen from Augustów
Abb. 3 Baptismal certificate of Alfred Jan Maksymilian Wierusz-Kowalski
Abb. 4 Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski
Fig. 1 Attack by wolves
Abb. 2 View of Suwałki seen from Augustów
Abb. 3 Baptismal certificate of Alfred Jan Maksymilian Wierusz-Kowalski
Abb. 4 Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski
Fig. 5 Post van in the city
Fig. 6 Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski
Fig. 7 Girl with violets
Fig. 8 The return of the fundraiser
Fig. 5 Post van in the city
Fig. 6 Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski
Fig. 7 Girl with violets
Fig. 8 The return of the fundraiser
Fig. 9 Courtships
Fig. 10 On patrol
Fig. 11 Horse riding in the park
Fig. 12 Returning home from the market
Fig. 9 Courtships
Fig. 10 On patrol
Fig. 11 Horse riding in the park
Fig. 12 Returning home from the market
Fig. 13 Travelling mishap
Fig. 14 Caucasian reconnaissance
Fig. 15 Rest of an insurgent
Fig. 16 In his Munich studio
Fig. 13 Travelling mishap
Fig. 14 Caucasian reconnaissance
Fig. 15 Rest of an insurgent
Fig. 16 In his Munich studio
Fig. 17 Portrait of Jadwiga, the artist's wife
Fig. 18 Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski's children Janina, Michalina and Czesław
Fig. 19 Bear hunting
Fig. 20 Attack by wolves
Fig. 17 Portrait of Jadwiga, the artist's wife
Fig. 18 Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski's children Janina, Michalina and Czesław
Fig. 19 Bear hunting
Fig. 20 Attack by wolves
Fig. 21 Sledge ride
Fig. 22 Polish farmers' journey
Fig. 23 Horse-drawn carriage at a ford
Fig. 24 Miniature of Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski
Fig. 21 Sledge ride
Fig. 22 Polish farmers' journey
Fig. 23 Horse-drawn carriage at a ford
Fig. 24 Miniature of Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski
Fig. 25 Polish Post
Fig. 26 Wolves at night, 1890s XIXth century
Fig. 27 Holy Hein
Fig. 28 Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski's studio in Munich
Fig. 25 Polish Post
Fig. 26 Wolves at night, 1890s XIXth century
Fig. 27 Holy Hein
Fig. 28 Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski's studio in Munich
In 1910 he made another attempt to regain his dwindling popularity by preparing a panorama-like version of Attacked by Wolves (5 x 10 metres in size) for an exhibition: a work he had completed many years ago. He reckoned with a success and a sale of the work, whose sketches that had hung for many years in his workshop in Herzogstraße 15 (Ill. 28), and attracted enthusiastic reactions from both critics and visitors alike.
In the end he submitted to the feeling of his fading glory, unable to understand the changes taking place around him and occupied by the difficulties of his life, the expensive upkeep of an estate he had purchased in 1896 in Mikorzyn, near Konin, his growing children, his wife’s ailments and his own malaise.
After the outbreak of the First World War the family – the Wierusz-Kowalskis were subjects of the Russian Czar – was split up between fronts and borders. Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski died on 15th February 1915 and was buried at the Waldfriedhof in Munich.[30] His workshop was dissolved by the family and the circumstances of great difficulty. In April 1917 the pictures were sold at an auction in the Hugo Helbing Kunsthaus. His workshop equipment, the furniture, the easels and his remaining artistic estate and archive were taken to Poland. In Munich there remained only the memory and the pictures, witnesses to 40 years of masterly artistic work.
Eliza Ptaszyńska, May 2017
[30] In 1936 the family moved Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski’s grave to the Powązki cemetery in Warsaw.
Schlittenfahrt, 1890–1900, Öl auf Holz, 28 x 48 cm
