Auctions

Ranking of the most expensive paintings by Polish artists sold at auction

The most expensive paintings by Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski sold at auction

Number and value of paintings by Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski sold at Polish and international auctions since 1993

https://www.agraart.pl/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-10-18_TRADYCJA.pdf

The starting price was not reached, but Janek Wiśniewski – co-author of our website – together with his lovely companion, and I had the opportunity to watch the auction and to talk with Dr Monika Bryl – an Agra-Art expert specialising in Old Master painting – about the current situation on the art market.

PRZEZ BŁOTA

oil on canvas, 44.3 × 53.8 cm; signed lower left: A/Wierusz-Kowalski

On the reverse, on the lower stretcher bar, a label with a number (blue crayon): 33; next to it a number (blue crayon): 4222
on the left stretcher bar a sticker with a number referring to the Italian support: 10; also, on the lower edge, an illegible inscription in blue crayon; next to it the stamp of a Munich artists' materials supplier: Schachinger & Hermann | [...] | Malerutensilien | München | Eisenmannstrasse.

PLN 580,000
estimate: 600,000 – 700,000

Provenance:

– Galerie Wimmer & Co., Munich;
– Rudolph Lepke’s Kunst-Auctions-Haus, Berlin
– auction of 26 November 1929;
– private collection – Switzerland;
– private collection – Warsaw.

Reproduced in:

– Gemälde neuer Meister aus ausländischem Museumsbesitz. Sammlung Loeb-Goslin und andere Beiträge, Berlin, 26 November 1929, p. 16, ill. unnumbered page;
– A reproduction from the above catalogue was also included in the card index of the Galerie Wimmer holdings (now in the Bibliothek der Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Munich), which contains illustrations of items intended for sale.

Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, a representative of the Munich school of painting, was particularly fond of landscape subjects. In his canvases he showed small expanses of the eastern landscape, filling them with people travelling in horse-drawn teams, winter events, sometimes involving even menacing wolves. In his paintings nature very often influences the mood of the scene and the way its protagonists are presented.

A particularly interesting example of this way of building a painterly narrative is the canvas presented here, Przez błota.

The composition rests mainly on two motifs. The overcast sky makes the light gentle and diffused, which softens the contours and gives the whole scene a melancholic, reflective character. Such an atmosphere evokes the realistic, harsh climate of a difficult journey along muddy, boggy roads, characteristic of the borderland landscape. This is a well-known device of Wierusz, so highly valued and sought after in his painting. Snow, fog or mud are not merely elements of nature, but often means deliberately used to build the atmosphere in which the artist places his protagonists.

The mud in our painting also has a purely painterly significance. The ground is rendered in a set of rich, warm colours – browns, greys, muted greens and ochres. Such a palette builds the impression of dampness and expanse characteristic of a landscape after rain. The artist exploits the contrast between the matt earth and the gleam of a illuminated puddle. The water reflects the cloudy sky and the delicate light, thanks to which the landscape gains spaciousness, subtle variety and depth. In this seemingly uniform tonality one can discern small nuances which, even on a cloudy day, are able to create interesting effects of light.

Przez błota is an example of Wierusz's mastery in building mood and telling a story by means of landscape. The road, although it demands patience from the travellers, becomes above all a space of shared experience. The driver and the sledge ostensibly slow the pace of the journey, but at the same time heighten the closeness and mutual care of the protagonists. It is precisely this familial aspect of the scene that gives the painting a particular warmth. A little girl with a white scarf on her head nestles tightly against the woman looking after her, who holds her on her lap. The man sitting beside them looks attentively at the foal, which stays close to the mare pulling the cart. These small details bring motifs of care and bonds into the picture. The animals are not merely a means of transport, but an integral part of the depicted world. Their presence enlivens the composition and introduces an element of movement.

Przez błota can therefore be seen as a calm story full of warmth, reminding us that beauty can also lie hidden in ordinary, imperfect moments.

A MERRY RIDE

oil on canvas (relined), 78 x 105.5 cm
signed lower right: 'A. W. Kowalski'
ID: 156755

Although the artist's painting was dominated by snowy, wintry landscapes, particularly after 1900 he also created compositions in shades of yellow, filled with dry summer air and enlivened by the intense colours of the figures' clothing, and it is in this vein that the painting presented here is executed. At the centre of the composition, two village girls are riding in a carriage drawn by a galloping horse. In the background, a second carriage can be seen, in which a larger group follows the first vehicle. The artist emphasised the dynamism of the ride with clouds of dust rising from beneath the wheels and with the gesture of the woman in the foreground, who holds her headwear in place with her hands. The painting is striking in its dynamism while maintaining formal discipline. Warm ochres, yellows and browns dominate, and a cloud of grey dust covers the background on the right.

The work is characterised by an almost impressionistic freedom and dynamism of brushstrokes and a expressive texture, all so characteristic of the artist's late painting. Colourful not only in its palette but also in its picturesque arrangement and narrative nature, the painting radiates a native, homely quality. The warm colours of the trees and leaves suggest a late-summer or autumn outing. The dust rising from beneath the wheels also reinforces the sense of this time of year, as well as the painter's bravura in capturing movement. The play of light and shadow gives the painting a vividness, which is underlined by the young women's colourful headscarves. The whole composition seems to shimmer with sunlight, which falls in streaks on the forest road and illuminates the dense vegetation.

All the formal features of the painting mentioned above are characteristic of the artist's work from the period after 1900. Eliza Ptaszyńska, the monographer of Wierusz-Kowalski's work, notes that around 1900, at the peak of European modernism and soon after the emergence of the first avant-gardes, the artist's oeuvre changed. Wierusz-Kowalski worked more quickly and somewhat more spontaneously, rendered the background in summary fashion, used impasto textural solutions and a nervous brushstroke – his painting underwent a peculiarly understood synthesis. Wierusz-Kowalski had, at an early stage of his career, created a distinctive artistic ideal and followed its path to the end of his career. Viewers were delighted by the precision of detail in his works, the exuberance and vitality of the scenes, the charming light effects and the rich colours of the Polish nature he depicted

You don't have to be a millionaire to leave here with something exceptional

We are organising the auction to coincide with the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the Wierusz-Kowalski family's donation of the legacy of Alfred, Czesław and Joanna to the collections of the District Museum in Suwałki. We decided to combine this important day for the Foundation with a little good fun and a pinch of auction excitement.

The Foundation does not operate for profit, but it does need funds. All proceeds from the auction will go towards our statutory activities: promoting Alfred's art and preserving the memory of his family.

LINK TO THE CATALOGUE:

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