Jerzy Kossak, NAPOLEON'S VISION ON THE ISLAND OF ST. HELENA, 1922

96,7 x 100,0cm - oil, canvas signed l.d.: Jerzy Kossak 1922



The featured painting painted by Jerzy Kossak reproduces a composition created by his father. In 1914 Wojciech Kossak painted a series of outstanding Napoleonic charges, among which was the painting Long Live the Emperor. It depicted Napoleon on the edge of a cliff on the island of St. Helena, who is surrounded by cheering soldiers of the best horse formations of his great army.

Napoleon, after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, abdicated and surrendered to the British. The British did not want to risk either executing the French emperor or trying him. The British government decided that a "prisoner of state" could not be held within the Kingdom. Wanting to prevent Napoleon's escape and return to France, it was decided that a small volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean would be the best place for isolation.

St. Helena Island, located 1950 kilometers off the west coast of Africa, was discovered in 1502. It was uninhabited until the mid-1700s, and then the East India Company established a provisioning and sanitary base for sailors on it.

Napoleon Bonaparte aboard the British ship HMS "Northumberland" on October 15, 1815 reached the island, which he did not leave again until his death on May 5, 1821. In the imperial entourage-alongside generals, doctors and servants-a Polish lieutenant of cavalry, Karol Piatkowski, stayed for several months. His voluntary exile at Napoleon's side ended, with the British decision to reduce the imperial entourage, in October 1816. Napoleon spent his time of isolation mainly riding horses and walking around the island and dictating his memoirs.

The painting by Jerzy Kossak is a representation of the last years of the French emperor's life. Walking in solitude along the rocky coast and recalling the times of his greatest triumphs, in which Polish troops also took part. So far, this is the only known painting by Jerzy Kossak depicting the Vision of Napoleon on the island of St. Helena. The appearance of this work on the Polish antiquarian market is a great treat for collectors.



♣ A fee will be added to the auctioned price in addition to other costs, resulting from the right of the artist and his heirs to receive remuneration in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 - on Copyright and Related Rights (droit de suite).

Jerzy Kossak (Krakow 1886 - Krakow 1955)- son of Wojciech, grandson of Juliusz Kossak- from early childhood painted under the direction of his father and grandfather. A continuator and imitator of their art, he created battle, historical and genre scenes with the omnipresent motif of the horse. He painted pictures of the November Uprising, the Napoleonic Wars and many scenes from the 1920 war. His best-known composition of this kind was Miracle on the Vistula. He also painted numerous Chases and Lancer Chases with Cossacks, Wolf Raids, Hunting and Weddings. The subject matter of these works makes them constantly popular with collectors and the public, always thronging to exhibitions of Kossak paintings.