Henryk Rodakowski
Portrait of Włodzimierz Dzieduszycki, 1880
Donated by the Government Board of the Galician Seym in 1919
imnk
miniaturka

material: oil on canvas

dimensions: 120 × 85 cm

description: Włodzimierz Dzieduszycki (1825–1899) was a landowner, naturalist, organizer of peasant industry, innovator in the field of agronomy. He supported the development of education, culture, Polish and Russian ethnography as well as artists. Although he shunned politics, he became financially involved in the Revolutions of 1848 and the January Uprising. Very rich and exceptionally well connected, yet modest in private life, Dzieduszycki generously and without much publicity gave money for lofty purposes, not expecting gratitude. The painting belongs to a series of portraits of Marshals which were commissioned by the Government Board destined to decorate the edifice of the Seym in Lvov. Dzieduszycki has been portrayed in the national costume, the żupan (a long, often colourful, garment) with a gold sash at the waist, the delia (a fur-lined coat) with a fur calpack, but without the karabela sabre and, above all, without the Marshal’s baton. Due to a comfortable, natural pose of the sitter, serious expression, a skilful concealment of the sitter’s deficiencies in looks (a crooked lip) and a sophisticated combination of colours and complementary tones, this work can be regarded as the best work by Rodakowski from the 1880s. Barbara Ciciora

exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice,
The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square


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