Pastel on paper, signed lower right “KŻelech”.
Dimensions in frame: 40x34 cm (24x20 cm)
Kasper Żelechowski (Klecza Dolna 1863 – 1942 Kraków) – Polish painter, poet, photographer, and diarist. Between 1879–1888 and 1893–1894, he studied at the Kraków School of Fine Arts, where he was a student of Jan Matejko in the composition department; he also studied at the Munich Academy from 1888 to 1890 under Karl Raupp. He painted numerous portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes—sometimes imbued with political and social themes—as well as compositions with fantastical elements, based on motifs from fairy tales and folk legends. He was one of the co-creators of the Panorama of the Tatra Mountains (1895), exhibited in Warsaw. He collaborated with the Kraków cabaret “Zielony Balonik.” After completing his studies, he settled permanently in Kraków, where he worked and held exhibitions. He often exhibited his works at the Society of Friends of the Fine Arts. He participated in the Art Exhibition of the Kraków Association of Visual Artists, held in Lublin in 1924, and in an exhibition of self-portraits in Kraków in 1929. As a former Legionnaire and member of the Polish Gymnastics Society “Sokół,” he also participated in several exhibitions dedicated to the art of the Legions, including exhibitions in Kraków (1916) and Warsaw (1917). Żelechowski briefly ran a photography studio in Kraków at 14 Podwale Street. He became famous as a portrait photographer, notably for his 1892 portrait of Włodzimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer. Alojzy Olma took over Kasper Żelechowski’s studio in 1896. On November 11, 1937, he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
