Mikhail GORSTKIN WYWIÓRSKI (1861-1926), Winter - Return from the hunt

oil, canvas; 67 x 107 cm;
Signed l. d.: M. G. Wywiórski;
On the loom and on the canvas, stamps of the Munich firm Schachinger & Hermann, Eisenmannstrasse.

Mikhail Gorstkin Wywiórski - a painter originally from Warsaw, received his education in Munich under Karl Raupp and Nikolaus Gysis and in the private studios of Jozef Brandt and Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski. The artist traveled extensively, first settling in Berlin and then tying his life to Greater Poland. After an initial fascination with the eastern borderlands and frequent use of subjects inspired by these lands, he turned to Young Poland landscape poetics, which was appreciated by his colleagues. Both Wojciech Kossak, Julian Fałat and Jan Styka invited the painter to collaborate in painting panoramas. Mikhail Gorstkin Wywiórski's task was to develop the landscape parts of the monumental canvases.
The offered work depicts the return of hunters from a hunt - a reference to the subject matter so often undertaken by Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski.
Compared to the Master's works, the canvas by Mikhail Gorstkin Wywiórski exudes the tranquility of a generic scene, and is characterized by an almost hieratic composition, stopped within the canvas. It is in vain to look here for rushing horses, snow splashing from under the hooves of animals, or aggressive wolves
attacking travelers.