Born: December 15, 1824, Nowy Wiśnicz (Austro-Hungarian partition of Poland, presently Nowy Wisnicz, Poland)
Died: February 3, 1899, Krakow (Austro-Hungarian partition of Poland, presently Krakow, Poland)
Early days. His father- Michal (coat of arms: Kos)- was a judge and also owned a small village Knihinin in Austro-Hungarian partition of Poland. His mother was Maria Antonina born Sobolewska. Juliusz Kossak grew up in Lwów (Austro-Hungarian partition of Poland, presently Lviv, Ukraine). He went to a high school (“gimnazjum”) Ojcow Bazylianow in Buczacz. Then he obtained a degree in law at the Lwów University encouraged by his mother. At the same time he studied painting with Jan Maszkowski and Piotr Michałowski
Career. Beginning in 1844 Kossak worked on commissions for the local aristocracy in Malopolska, Podolia and Wolyn (all parts of Austro-Hungarian partition of Poland). He married Zofia Gałczyńska in 1855 and together they left for Paris where they spent five years. His sons were born there, the twin brothers: Wojciech and Tadeusz in 1856 and Stefan in 1858. The family came to Warsaw in 1860 where Kossak obtained a position as the head illustrator and engraver for Tygodnik Illustrowany magazine. They moved to Munich, Germany for a year and in 1868 settled in Kraków (Austro-Hungarian partition of Poland, presently Poland) with five children. Kossak bought a small estate there, known as Kossakówka, famed for artistic and literary salon frequented by Adam Asnyk, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Stanisław Witkiewicz, Józef Chełmoński and many other writers and artists. Juliusz Kossak lived and worked there till the end of his life.
Work. Kossak exhibited his work on Polish soil and abroad since 1854. His preferred medium was watercolor, both in smaller and larger formats. He was the precursor of a Polish school of battle-scene painting, with his main subject matter revolving around what was of great concern to Poles opposing the military occupation of their country. He was the author of over a dozen panoramic paintings depicting Polish cavalry in battle and on military actions against foreign invaders. Kossak produced also a series of portraits in oil for Polish noble families including Fredro, Gniewosz, Tyszkiewicz, Lipski and Morstin clan. His rustic and pastoral scenes included horse fairs, country weddings, winter hunting excursions, mythological scenes and horse stables. He also produces a series of illustrations of Polish epic literature such as Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz, novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz, works by Wincenty Pol, Jan Chryzostom Pasek and others. He designed various honorary medals for Kraków foundries.
Awards. In 1880 he was awarded the Cross of Order of Merit by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria–Hungary for his lifetime achievements as an artist.
This article uses mostly material from the Wikipedia article "Juliusz Kossak:"
Wikipedia (includes a gallery of 13 Kossak's paintings).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply;
supplemented with information from other sources
Wikipedia in Polish.
Gallery of 18 Kossak's paintings
Published 11/3/14
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