Author: Viktor Zin
Title: Crossing the River (1944)
Technique: ink, paper
Dimensions: 26.5 x 31.5 cm
Dimensions with frame: 40.5 x 44.5 cm
Signed p.d. with monogram "ZW" and dated "1944"
Inscribed l.g.: "Sketch for oil river crossing" and l.d.: "SEPTEMBER SZKIC 116".
Visible foxing on the paper.
Artwork description:
Wiktor Zin is one of the most recognizable figures of Polish culture.
Known to the general public, including from educational television programs such as "With pen and charcoal," for decades he delighted viewers with his sensitivity to cultural heritage.
The attention of fans of Viktor Zin's paintings should be drawn to the presented work, done in black ink on paper. It shows an extremely dynamic scene of a river crossing. It was painted in 1944, i.e. in the early period of the artist's work, when he was still a student of the Polytechnic Departments at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow. Compositions from that time are rare on the art market, which makes the presented work exceptionally interesting from both a historical and collector's perspective.
Made by Viktor Zin, this sketch from his student days already shows the extremely expanded imagination of the future professor. With flair, he painted a multi-plane scene full of movement and expression, with numerous characters scrolling about: pedestrians, horsemen, horse-drawn carriages - struggling together against nature and the elements. The composition conveys the movement and drama of the event, while at the same time it is in the tradition of Polish painting of the 19th and 20th centuries, when this subject, in both historical and genre terms, was taken up by artists such as Józef Brandt, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski and Wojciech Kossak. The subject matter and the manner in which the scene was depicted testify to Wiktor Zin's deep interest in Polish art, which included not only ancient architecture, but also the history of painting.
Wiktor Zin's biography is available on the Krakow Auction House website [SEE].
If you would like to sell Wiktor Zin's paintings, please contact us [LINK].