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Two Men at the Bar

Odo Dobrowolski

  • Two Men at the Bar
Basic information
ID
Г-I-611
Author
Odo Dobrowolski
Name
Two Men at the Bar
Date of creation
1908–?
Technique
drawing
Material
cardboard watercolour Indian ink
Dimensions
39 x 26 cm (height x width)
Additionally
Type
graphic art
Genre
genre art
Information about author
Author
Odo Dobrowolski
Author in the original
Odo (Otton) Dobrowolski
Artist's lifetime
1883–1917
Country
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Biography
Odo (Otton) Dobrowolski (1883, Chernivtsi – 1917, Kyiv) was a Lviv artist of Polish–German origin, primarily known as a master of graphic art and lithography, as well as an exceptional watercolourist and pastellist.
He was born into the family of Józef Dobrowolski, an official at the Austrian governorship of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and Eugenia Wittich. The artist was likely named after Otto the Great, the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. After graduating from a gymnasium in Lviv, in the mid-1900s he studied in Kraków as a non-degree student at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Between 1908 and 1909, thanks to the support of the painter Jan Styka, Dobrowolski lived in Paris, followed by a brief stay in Munich. Upon returning to Lviv, between 1909 and 1910, the artist executed an oil decorative panel for the confectionery of Gabriela Zapolska – a famous playwright, actress, and one of the most prominent figures of the local bohemian elite. In 1911–1912, he worked in Paris once again. Following his return to Lviv, during the Russian occupation of the city during the First World War, he created a highly popular series of ten lithographs.
In June 1915, alongside the retreating Russian forces, the artist departed for Kyiv, where in 1917 the 34-year-old master died under unresolved circumstances.
The creative heritage of Odo Dobrowolski encompasses numerous cityscapes featuring views of Lviv and Paris, alongside portraits, interior sketches, and nature studies. His works are held in Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, the National Museum in Kraków, the National Library and the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, as well as in private collections.
Object description
The work is dated according to the period in which the artist explored the theme of the self-portrait with a skull. In this composition, the same skull replaces the face of the main figure; it wears the same broad cap as in the artist’s 1908 self-portrait. Behind the bar stand two figures, drinking beer from steins. The figure on the right is dressed in an elegant light suit and long coat, with a skull for a head, topped by a cap, and holding a cigarette between its teeth. To the left stands the second figure, turned away from the viewer, wearing a long coat with a fur collar; he also has a skull for a head, crowned with a top hat. On the bar shelves are a clock and bottles. The composition is rendered in a contrasting colour palette.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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