Jan MATEJKO (1838-1893), Rejtan, 1876

Woodcut, paper; 26 x 42 cm (in light passe-partout);
Signed by the xylographer l. d.: "A. Zajkowski ryt".
The drawing on the woodcut was made by Stanislaw Witkiewicz. The graphic comes from "Album of Jan Matejko" published in 1876 by Samuel Leventhal, who writes in the afterword, among other things, as follows: "The album included the most exquisite paintings of the master, made in recent times; with the exception of reproductions of Rejtan, Ivan the Terrible and the Bard of the Lyricist, reproduced most faithfully by Messrs. Maszyński and Witkiewicz, according to photographs taken from the originals, all other works were drawn on wood by Matejko himself [...] the execution of each of such woodcuts as, for example. Stefan Batory, Sejm in Lublin, etc. required six months of time each, not counting the time used to draw them on wood [...]".
Andrzej ZAJKOWSKI (1851-1914) - prominent Warsaw wood engraver, one of the leading representatives of Polish xylography. Active in 1865-1889, he gained early recognition in the artistic community. His works began to appear in "Kłosy" when he was less than 15 years old, at the age of 20 he engraved drawings by Michal Elvir Andriolli, with whom he worked for the longest time. In 1881 he was entrusted with making woodcuts based on Andriolli's drawings for Pan Tadeusz (published in Lviv in 1882).
Salomon (Franciszek Salezy) LEWENTAL (1841-1902), Warsaw publisher and bookseller, founder of the weekly newspaper "Kłosy".