Józef Brandt
Fair in the region of Krakow, c. 1868
Oil on canvas
95 x 169 cm
Private collection
Józef Brandt (1841 in Szczebrzeszyn – 1915 in Radom) was a painter, acclaimed for his military art. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, he was the leader of a Polish artistic colony in Munich.
Battle Over the Turkish Banner, c. 1905
Oil on canvas
Height: 76 cm (29.9 in); Width: 130 cm (51.1 in)
National Museum Kraków
Brandt was born into a well-known and wealthy family of doctors in Warsaw. His first contact with art was through his mother. She was the first person to give Józef drawing lessons. After her husband died in 1846, she and her five-year-old son moved in with brother.
In 1858 Brandt graduated from a grammar school in the Institute of the Gentry, and the following year marked the start of his education in Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, where he was studying to become an engineer. It was there that he decided to give up engineering in favour of a career in art.
Józef Brandt (1841–1915)
RETURN FROM THE HORSE MARKET, circa 1884
Oil on canvas
35.5 x 63.75 in
Private collection
In the autumn of 1860 he returned to Warsaw and soon after left for Ukraine and Podolia. His first encounter with local nature and lifestyle had a tremendous impact on his future work and artistic interests. His fascination with Ukraine was clearly visible in the works with which he debuted at an exhibition organised by the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in 1861.
Józef Brandt (1841–1915)
ATTACK OF THE POLISH HUSARS, circa 1898
Oil, canvas
54.7 x 99.5 cm
Private collection
In 1862 Brandt left to study in Munich. He spent some time as an apprentice in Alexandr Strähuber’s workshop and later he attended composition class taught by Karl Piloty in the Academy of Fine Arts. Starting in May 1863 he worked in the atelier of Franz Adam, an outstanding military art painter, who played a vital role in shaping the young artist’s talent. For some time he was also a regular guest at Teodor Horschelt’s watercolour workshop, where he had a chance to familiarise himself with a huge collection of old weapons and military equipment, which proved to be of great help while painting historical military paintings. He quickly found his place among artistic elite of Munich. His painting Chodkiewicz in the Battle of Khotyn (See below), which was presented at Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1867, sparked an interest among French critics and public, and it was also well received by the German press.
Józef Brandt (1841–1915)
Battle of Chocim, c. 1867
Oil on canvas
Height: 190 cm (74.8 in); Width: 337 cm (11 ft)
National Museum in Warsaw
Józef Brandt (Polish, 1841–1915)
Procession with the spoils - Return from Vienna , ca. 1883–1884
Oil on canvas
72 x 112 cm. (28.3 x 44.1 in.)
Private collection
The battle of Vienna was an enormous defeat and failure for the Ottoman Empire, the most disastrous since the foundation of Ottoman statehood in 1299. Casualties of the allied relief force under Sobieski's command were much smaller.
The Holy League troops and the Viennese took a large amount of loot from the Ottoman army. More on this painting
Another example of his early acclaimed paintings is Return from Vienna – Rolling Stock (See above), which was bought for the personal collection of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. The critical reception that he received and high interest from art collectors were important factors in his decision to stay permanently in Munich. Establishing his own workshop in 1870 elevated him to the title of the leader of the Polish artistic colony in the capital of Bavaria. He often helped young artists arriving in Munich, both artistically and financially.
Józef Brandt (Polish, 1841–1915)
The guide, circa 1910
Oil on canvas
79 x 125 cm
Private collection
In around 1875 he founded an informal art school in his atelier, where mostly young Poles learned the basics of painting. After marrying in 1877, he spent every summer in his wife Helena Pruszakowa’s estate in Orońsk near Radom. He also often visited Ukraine. The place was an inspiring one, as he often brought back numerous drawings and sketches, and also many historical artefacts, which after his death were to be inherited by the Polish nation.
Józef Brandt (1841–1915)
Battle of Vienna, c. 1873
Oil on canvas
Height: 136 cm (53.5 in); Width: 318 cm (10.4 ft)
Polish Army Museum
Brandt reached his highest artistic form in the 1870s and 1880s. After the presentation of Battle of Vienna (See above) during the World’s Fair in 1873 he was awarded Order of Franz Joseph. In 1875 he was designated to be a member of Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, and in 1878 he got a honorary professorship in the Bavarian Academy. Furthermore, in 1881, he was awarded the Order of Saint Michael. Brandt was among the social elite of Munich, and he was a friend of the prince regent Luitpold. The capstone of his career in Munich was 1892, when he received Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown. With that honour he was ennobled and received the title of Ritter. Even though his paintings were not quite on par with his earlier creations, his works were still extremely popular. Brandt himself also still enjoyed numerous honours.
Brandt managed to resurrect the past of the Commonwealth on his canvas. Ideal knights in epic settings, Cossacks, Tatars, jaunty gentry, and brave hussars were all painted with the lush greenery of Ukraine and Podolia.
Józef Brandt (Polish, 1841–1915)Title:
Conversation at the Well , 1877
Oil on canvas
53.3 x 94 cm. (21 x 37 in.)
Private collection
Józef Brandt (Polish, 1841–1915)
Courtship. Cossack with a girl by the well, c. 1875
Oil on canvas
51 x 99 cm
Muzeum Narodowego w Kielcach
The painting shows a genre scene taking place in the eastern borderlands of the Republic of Poland. In front of the backwater, visible in the background, consisting of huts and farm buildings, there is a well with a tall crane. The main scene of the canvas takes place next to it. A young girl leaning against wooden planks, dressed in a plain white knee-length shirt, tied at the waist with a dark fabric, clearly refrains from the strenuous slides of a Cossack man sitting next to her. Leaning towards her, he approaches her with his face, holding her hand with his left hand, not letting himself free. More on this painting
Among other things, he also portrayed everyday village life, marketplace scenes, and horses. He created hunting scenes and genre paintings. By the Well (See above) or Cossack and a Girl (See above). He also took inspiration from literature, from authors such as Wincenty Pol, Kajetan Suffczyński, and Bohdan Zaleski.
Józef Brandt (Polish, 1841–1915)
Dangerous passage
Oil, canvas
70 x 110 cm
Private collection
His artistic maturity started to show as early as in 1863 in March of Lisowczycy or 1866’s Servant Leading a Horse During the Battle. They both show effortless and natural composition that includes complicated perspective devices in figures of horses and men, precise contouring and harmonious colour palette.
The capstone of his studies is undoubtedly Chodkiewicz in the Battle of Khotyn (See above). It’s an artistic memorial of the successful defence of Khotym against the Ottoman Empire in 1621, which foreshadows epic military scenes, such as Battle of Vienna from 1873 (See above) or Retaking of Jassyr (1878) (See below). In these vast horizontal scenes Brandt managed to create the illusion of battle noises, sudden emotions, and the dynamics of fighting people and running horses.
Józef Brandt (Polish, 1841–1915)
Retaking of Jassyr, c. 1878
Oil on canvas
National Museum, Warsaw.
Czarniecki by Koldynga, painted in 1870 (See below), shows an episode of the Campaign of Jutland led by Stefan Czarniecki in 1658. It is different from his other paintings, because here we can feel a serious tone of contemplation.. In the central point of the painting we see some soldiers, trying to get from their ships to the snowy shore. Its gloomy nature is extremely important in this picture, as cloudy skies in a misty, damp atmosphere of winter dawn create an unwelcoming scene, which emphasises the difficulties this warband had to undertake.
Józef Brandt (1841–1915)
Czarniecki at Kolding, c. 1870
Oil on canvas
Height: 95 cm (37.4 in); Width: 205.5 cm (80.9 in)
National Museum in Warsaw
In paintings such as Greeting the Steppe (1874) (See below), which is often replicated and sometimes known as The Song of Victory; Mother of God from 1909, or Cossack’s Wedding, 1893, of which a few different versions were painted. All these pieces follow the same outline – a virtually unending steppe, under a clear, blue sky, a wedding procession, or triumphant cossacks/knights go down the road, singing, playing various instruments, and cheering. Banners and flags moved by the wind, windswept horse manes and guns being fired only strengthen acoustic effects that are a vital point in expressive nature of these paintings.
Józef Brandt (Polish, 1841–1915)
Welcome to the Steppe , c. 1878–1879
Oil on canvas
87 x 170 cm. (34.3 x 66.9 in.)
Private collection
Beginning in the 1880s, Brandt moved away from monumental depictions of grand battles, and focused on smaller formats, which target smaller skirmishes fought by anonymous soldiers in smaller groups, or even lone riders (Call to arms (See below), painted around 1882; Capture with a Lariat from 1882 (See below); Skirmish with the Swedes (See below); Battle for a Turkish Banner (See above). Among his works from this period one can also frequently find images of lone riders with moving armies far in the background (for example, Swaggering, 1885; Hussar, 1890; Armoured Companion, 1890) and scenes from soldiers’ lives (Bow-hunting, 1885; Folding Banners, 1905; Return from Vienna 1890; Camp of Zaporozhian Cossacks, 1880).
Józef Brandt (1841–1915)
Call to arms, circa 1882
Oil on canvas
Height: 97.5 cm (38.3 in); Width: 150 cm (59 in)
National Museum in Warsaw
Capture of a Horse with a Lariat
Oil on canvas
Lviv Picture Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
Józef Brandt (1841–1915)
Skirmish with the SwedesOil on canvas
I have no further description, at this time
Another scene characteristic for Brandt is a picture of small groups of soldiers standing near a ford, about to cross the river or riding through a small, sleepy villages, or scouts covering vast emptiness of the steppe (Military Crossing, 1871; Layover in a Village; Cossack’s Recon, 1873; Crossing Carpathians, 1874; Crossing the Dnieper, 1875; Stakeout by the Dnieper, 1878). These works were where Brandt’s mastery in recreating landscapes came to light. The mutual elements of the scenery of these paintings, like bare, grassless ground, misty horizon and cloudy skies are the elements that create the atmosphere of melancholy, sadness, and exhaustion of a soldier’s life. These works instil a mood of contemplation and calm thanks to harmonious colours of doused greens, bronzes, greys and blues. These compositions unveil Brandt’s other side – a master of colour, sensitive to nature’s beauty.
Józef Brandt (1841–1915)
Battle between the Cossacks and the Highlanders
Oil on canvas
37 x 59 1/2 in
Private collection
Virgin Mary of Pochayiv, also known as Virgin Mary of Armenia or Steppe Prayer (c. 1890) is one more piece connected with this kind of representation. It is said that this painting relates to the legend of a sacred picture of Mary that was held in an Armenian cathedral in Kamianets-Podilskyi and was later transported away out of fear of Turkish invasion.
The anecdotal layer of this painting in overshadowed by very emotional connection of the artist to nature – the steppe, showered in moonlight, is very poetic, awakens feelings of longing, which interacts perfectly with people deep in prayer. His landscape painting technique, very impressionist, is quite different from his way of portraying characters, their raiment and equipment. The scenery is meant to capture fleeting feelings, isn’t meant to be precise, sometimes overly precise, as is the case with the characters.
In Brandt’s portfolio one can find many examples of hunting-themed works, which focus on hunting traditions and equipment, such as rifles, shotguns, horns, ammunitions, and hunting animals – dogs and horses. These chases describe the lifestyle of Polish country gentry and often omit the bloody aspect of the hunt, rarely showing victorious humans over dead animals. The artist tried to focus on the landscape and the mood, spending a lot of time and effort on the beauty of shrubs and trees, as well as folksy customs of the hunters. He usually painted the hunters leaving for or coming back from the hunt, or resting around the fire with their dogs guarding camp’s outskirts. Images of hunters in a tavern or hitting on village girls are also frequent (Conversation by the Well, 1884; Before the Hunt, 1886; The Hunt; Stable Boy with Mounts, 1883).
Yet another distinctive feature of Brandt’s mature output is his attachment to lively scenes from the lives of the inhabitants of Ukraine and Podolia, who were in turn extremely attached to their mounts. After 1880, his creative work was dominated by pieces with titles that say it all, such as: Fair in Bałta, Fair in Podolia, Horse’s Trial, Horseriding Display, Lassoing a Horse, Horses Bolted with their Riders).
From 1900, he stopped creating new motifs, he focused on reworking existing ones, working on the dynamicity and movement of the characters in his paintings. Easily understood anecdotes became dominant over the artistic value of his works.
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