Herd of Horses (Dionysiusz Trzeciak's Horse Farm in Taurow)

Juliusz Kossak devoted as much attention to the figure of the horse as he did to the human figure in his works. The horse, a faithful companion of man since ancient times, was a beloved theme in the artist's oeuvre from his earliest studies. The artist was primarily fascinated by wild, untamed horses, which he perceived as one of the elements of nature, demonstrating excellent knowledge of their breeds, temperament, and behaviour. Between 1845 and 1850, while staying at the estate of Juliusz Dzieduszycki in Yarchivtsi in Podillia (now in the Ternopil Oblast), the artist painted extensively from life and depicted horses. J. Kossak used the sketches made at the horse farm in his later works. The landscape depicted in the painting shows a vast panorama of fields with rural buildings on the right in the background. A herd of horses and foals of various colours occupies the entire foreground. To the right of the figure of the Virgin Mary, two figures are depicted – a groom and a gentleman – who are watching the animals. The title of the painting suggests that this is Mr Dionysiusz Trzeciak, the owner of the horse farm and an expert and admirer of horses.

In the lower right, the author's signature and date: "Juliusz Kossak 1879".

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery