2024-04-23
The most famous Polish artist who painted snow landscapes was undoubtedly Julian Fałat. However, it is worth mentioning at least several other painters who undertook to depict snow: among others Ferdynand Ruszczyc, Leon Wyczółkowski or Adam Setkowicz.
Julian Fałat was a leading representative of landscape and genre painting of the Young Poland period. He became most famous for his winter landscapes, including the famous series of works from the years 1902-1913, in which the painter depicted the motif of a winding river among snow-covered fields. His compositions are asymmetrical, bringing to mind Japanese art, where "empty" space plays an important role.
He represented the symbolist trend in the art of Modernism during the Young Poland period. He painted mainly landscapes, including winter ones. Good examples are the compositions "Last Snow'' (1899) and "From the banks of Wilejka river'' (1900). In the latter, one can notice the monumentalism of the representation and the contrast between the foaming water of the Vilnius river and the snow which calmly lies on the surrounding hills.
As a representative of the trend of realistic painting in the period of Young Poland, he was very attached to nature. This can be seen, for example, in "View from Koziniec, Zakopane in the snow'' from 1905, where, using pastels and gouaches, he juxtaposes the power of the snow-covered peaks of the Tatra Mountains with the gentleness of the hills lying below them.
He was a Polish painter, working mainly with watercolours and oil paints in the realism trend. He owed his popularity to numerous reproductions in illustrated magazines and postcards. In his works the influence of the style of Józef Brandt and Julian Fałat can be seen. His oeuvre includes many genre scenes set in a snowy landscape. He was fond of painting horse carriages, for example: "Sleds on a forest road" or "Sleds". His oil painting depicting a speeding horse-drawn carriage with wedding party is currently on display at Artbidy.