Alexander KOTSIS, By the Kitchen

oil, canvas, 36.2 x 48 cm, unsigned. Attached is an opinion by Adam Konopacki. Exhibited and reproduced in the exhibition catalog "Aleksander Kotsis (1836-1877). Shades of Realism", National Museum in Cracow, ed. by A. Krypczyk-de Barra, Cracow 2021, cat. 37, p. 139. "If you want to paint the people, you have to know and love them - these two things are necessary and they keep the artist from exaggeration and triviality". These words describe the work of Alexander Kotsis, who devoted a large part of his artistic output to compositions that constitute a critique of the misery of the rural people. The painting "By the Kitchen" refers precisely to this theme. The canvas is maintained in brown colors, the main scene was brightened by bringing out the figures with chiaroscuro. As was written about the coloring of Kotsis' works - "color achievements prove the artistry of the artist, able to convey the depth and atmosphere of the scene in a narrow range of colors." Representations of this type in Kotsis' work originated under the influence of 17th-century Dutch painting, which the artist admired primarily during his studies in Vienna.

The Krakow painter, a forerunner of realist tendencies in painting in the 1860s and 1870s, began his training at the School of Fine Arts in Krakow under the tutelage of W. K. Stattler, W. Luszczkiewicz and A. Plonczynski, where he gained a reputation as one of the most talented students. Thanks to a scholarship he received in 1890, he continued his education in Vienna in the department of historical painting. Initially, a frequent motif in Kotsis' work was depictions of the Tatra Mountains highlighting the colorful folklore of Podhale, then he moved on to themes related to the poverty prevailing in the villages near Krakow. Many of the artist's works are now in Polish national museums, and are rarely found in antiquarian circulation.