Witold Pruszkowski was a Polish painter, one of the representatives of the Munich School, known for his early Symbolism in art. He was born in 1846 in Bershad, near Odessa, and spent his childhood in Odessa and Kyiv, where his aesthetic ideals were shaped within the circle of classical culture. In 1860, the Pruszkowski family moved to France and then to Paris, where he began studying painting under Tadeusz Gorecki.
From 1868 to 1872, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he encountered Polish Romantic literature and the influences of the atmospheric painting of Arnold Böcklin. In 1872, he arrived in Kraków to study under Jan Matejko, but he did not succumb to his artistic influences. His only historical-themed work is the painting "The Offering of the Crown to Piast," which reflects his interest in the legendary history of Poland and the presence of supernatural beings.
As a painter recognized as a delayed romantic, he employed both oil and pastel techniques, creating atmospheric landscapes that capture the mood of twilight, pale dawns, or misty meadows. His works were often inspired by Polish poetry, especially the writings of Słowacki, and folk and fairy-tale motifs appeared in his paintings, which combined realism with romantic mysticism.
Despite struggling with an illness that led to his death in Budapest in 1896, Pruszkowski did not part with his brushes until the end of his life. His work is an important element of the transition between the 19th and 20th centuries, bridging the legacy of Romanticism with the Symbolism of Young Poland.