Aleksander Orłowski, Imperial Courier

Oil on zinc sheet. Attribution: Aleksander Orłowski. 

Framed: 44x58 cm (29x43 cm). 

Aleksander Orłowski (1777 -1832) - painter, draftsman and graphic artist. Proteged to Princess Izabella Czartoryska, in 1793-1801 he was educated in the studio of J. P. Norblin, who had a fundamental influence on all his later work. He also studied in the "Malarnia" castle's "paint shop" at the miniature of W. de Lesseur and engraver B. Folino. He took part in the Kosciuszko Uprising. He worked periodically for Fr. Józef Poniatowski and for Fr. Helena Radziwiłłowa. In 1802 he went to Lithuania, and from there to St. Petersburg, where he settled permanently, soon gaining immense popularity. He became the court draftsman of the Grand Duke Constantine, he also worked for the Emperor Alexander I. In 1809 he received the title of the Academy of the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. He was first of all a cartoonist, he was also happy to paint with pastels and oil. The subject matter of his works was varied: he created battle scenes, he drew and painted eastern horsemen, characteristic folk types, scenes from village life, landscapes, portraits and caricatures. From 1816 he was involved in lithography, popularizing this technique in Russia. He was an outstanding figure of the Polish artistic colony in St. Petersburg. With admiration, Aleksander Puszkin wrote about Orłowski, finding in his art features close to his own romantic ideals, and Adam Mickiewicz, who was his friend in "Pan Tadeusz", devoted several poems to "our painter Orłowski".

The theme of the tsarist courier is known from original lithographs. Listed eg in "Aleksander Orłowski 1777-1832", Exhibition of Works from Soviet and Polish Collections, National Museum in Warsaw, 1957-1958.