Seweryn BIESZCZAD (1852-1923), Rural scene, 1881

Lithograph, paper; 13 x 18 cm, cm (light framed), 24 x 29 cm (framed);
Signed on the plate l. d.: S. Bieszczad.
Work made personally by the author on a stone for a portfolio published by the Artistic and Literary Circle in Cracow in 1881, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the reconstruction of the Croatian capital Zagreb, affected by the earthquake the year before. Lithograph made in 1881 at Aureliusz Pruszyński's Artistic Lithography Workshop in Krakow, 17 Pijarska Street, established in 1873. Many artists, including L. Wyczółkowski, were able to make their own prints here.
Seweryn Bieszczad - Polish painter of the early 20th century, realist (he excelled in watercolor) associated with Krosno. A student of the Cracow SSP, Vienna and Munich academies. He was most fond of painting views of villages and towns, rural genre scenes and gentle landscapes of the Krosno area. He combined good workshop training with realistic development of the subject matter and a great sense of color. He was born into a painter's family. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow in 1868-1876, under the direction of Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and later Jan Matejko, and participated in classes taught by Leon Dembowski and Feliks Szynalewski. Being a scholarship holder of the School of Fine Arts in Cracow, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under A. Wagner. He also studied in Dresden as a scholarship student of the Vienna Academy. After his studies, he lived in Cracow. In 1891, on the advice of friends, he moved permanently to Krosno, where he lived for the rest of his life (except for the years 1920-1923, when he stayed in Pleszew, Poznan province). In Krosno, he was an active cultural activist, creator of an amateur theater circle and a member of art committees and the "Art" art association. He died on June 17, 1923 in Krosno.

Aureliusz Pruszyński (9.09.1847 Kasinka Mała pov. Limanowa - 22.04.1904 Krakow) was a Krakow lithographer, owner of the highly regarded Aureliusz Pruszyński Artistic Lithography Workshop in Krakow founded in 1873 at 17 Pijarska Street, from ca 1902 the owner of the workshop was his son Zenon Pruszyński (see SAP vol. 8 pp. 92-93). In the factory of A. Pruszyński, from the end of the 19th century, leading artists of Cracow reflected their graphic works in lithography (including posters), including the famous "Teka Melpomena"