Oil, canvas; 60 x 92.5 cm
Signed p. d.: JOSEPH CHELMONSKI | 1882 PARIS
Painting exhibited, described, reproduced in: - Exposition Internationale de Peintre, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris 1883, p. 18, cat .6; - A. Slonimski, Letters from America. Return. Chelmonski, "Literary News," March 1, 1936, no. 9, p. 4; - I. Piotrowska, Art of Poland, New York 1944, p. 183; - S. Jordanowski, Vademecum of Polish Painting in the USA, Wrocław 1996, repr. color plate after p. 64 (titled Kamienicznik); - E. Micke-Broniarek, Józef Chełmoński na wielkich łowach natury. Paintings of the artist from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw and from private collections, Dom Pracy Twórczej in Radziejowice 2012, pp. 70-71, cat. no. 18, il.
Jozef Chelmonski spent the years 1875 - 1887 in Paris, where he found artistic and commercial success. He painted grandiose canvases with attractive subject matter, intriguing genre scenes from the Borderlands, distinguished by the dynamism of the subject matter and the expressiveness of the painterly form. These works brought the artist recognition in France, his numerous works were bought by American collectors. The excellent streak in Chełmoński's life, as well as in the European art market, collapsed in 1881 after the US introduced a significant increase in tariffs on imported works of art. "There came an era of canvases that were noticeably smaller, quieter, [...] but fascinating in what could be called 'small realism,' delighting in a whole lot of detail, through which we taste this exotic borderland everyday life." It is from this period that the work discussed here originates, writes Tadeusz Matuszczak, an eminent expert on Chełmoński's work and author of numerous publications devoted to the artist, in his expert review. [...] Breath-taking and appreciative is the painterly freedom with which Chełmoński, with sure, long brushstrokes, builds up this peculiar architecture of borderland towns [...] The picture is painted with the dynamics of brushstrokes and touches, characteristic of the Parisian period of Chełmoński's work [....]."
Muddy Road, a painting painted by the artist in Paris, was exhibited in 1883 at Georges Petit's Gallery there at 8 Rue de Séze, from where it probably made its way to America. In later years it was owned by the well-known collector Maksymilian S. Wegrzynek, a prominent Polish activist, publisher of the New York "New World" (1922-1944), v-president of the Kosciuszko Foundation and co-founder of the Pilsudski Institute. Antoni Slonimski, among others, wrote about his collection, which included other Chelmonski paintings, in his Letters from America. In 1968 the painting found its way into the collection of Stanislaw Stańczyk in London. In 1975 it was put up for auction at Christie's Auction House in London (May 9, 1975, cat. no. 163), where it was purchased for the collection of Michał Ciepliński in Washington. After 2000, the painting ended up in private hands in Canada and then in Poland. Courtesy of the collector, Muddy Road has been on display at an exhibition of paintings by Jozef Chelmonski at the Radziejowice Palace since 2012.
Expert opinion by Tadeusz Matuszczak
Asking price 430150
Estimate 500000 - 600000
