| Napoleon ORDA (1807-1883) 085 WELLONA on the Niemen River (G. Kaunas) from: Album of historical views of Poland lithographed by Alojzy Misierowicz(1825-oc.1905) in Lithography by Maksymilian Fajans(1827-1890)] Sign.on kam.l.d. drawing from nature Napoleon Orda, p.d. Lith. in Lith. by M. Fajans in Warsaw lithograph, tint small tear in margin For. ca: 44.5x31 cm Napoleon Mateusz Tadeusz Orda (1807-1883) - Polish draughtsman, composer and pianist, of his own coat of arms, became famous mainly as the author of more than a thousand drawings and watercolors created between 1872 and 1880, depicting the appearance of hundreds of residences, castles, churches and other buildings of the former Republic of Poland. His works are often today the only source of knowledge about the architecture of these monuments, since many of them were later destroyed or rebuilt. During Orda's lifetime, eight series of his illustrations were published as part of a publishing monument entitled Album of Historical Views of Poland. It included 260 lithographs, which were transferred to stone by Alojzy Misierowicz, and the prints were made in his studio by Maksymilian Fajans. The artist initially studied at the University of Vilnius, but was punished with forced emigration for his participation in the November Uprising (1830-1831). After spending years in France, he returned to his hometown to continue his documentary and artistic activities. Orda was not only an outstanding watercolor painter, but also a gifted musician - in exile he maintained contacts with, among others, Frederic Chopin, and in Parisian artistic circles he gained fame as a pianist and composer. Nonetheless, he went down in history primarily because of his titanic output of drawings, which remains a key testimony to the lost architectural heritage of the former Kresy and Polish lands. |
