A lithograph from the portfolio ‘Small works by J. Rustem’ (Petits ouvrages de J. Rustem). IV

When living on the Günther estate at Dobrowlany (now in Belarus), Kazimierz Bachmatowich (1803/8–1837) created a six-sheet folder of lithographs of adaptations of genre scenes by his teacher Jan Rustem (1762–1835). The lithographs were printed in Vilnius in the lithography workshop of Józef Ozemblowski and Anton Klukowski. The series illustrates the immense influence of the work by the drawing professor Jan Rustem on the emergence of Romantic art in Vilnius, especially of his drawings from life which depicted the costumes of all social classes, different types of people, and everyday details. It is clear that Bachmatowicz rendered the drawings by his teacher in his own style, to make them more graceful and idealised.
Sheet four includes six different drawings, of a Jewish peddler bargaining with women, children of the nobility playing in a park, a fisherman in a boat, and other subjects. The simple figures are eye-catching, with their interesting situations and their freedom of movement. They depict everyday moments captured by a pencil. The central composition of two Lithuanian peasants stopping on a dirt road beside a cross stands out from the others. The general character of the scene and the detail of their costumes seem to anticipate the interest in ethnographic studies in the second half of the 19th century.

Text author Rūta Janonienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album RES PUBLICA (2018). Compiler and author Rūta Janonienė

When living on the Günther estate at Dobrowlany (now in Belarus), Kazimierz Bachmatowich (1803/8–1837) created a six-sheet folder of lithographs of adaptations of genre scenes by his teacher Jan Rustem (1762–1835). The lithographs were printed in Vilnius in the lithography workshop of Józef Ozemblowski and Anton Klukowski. The series illustrates the immense influence of the work by the drawing professor Jan Rustem on the emergence of Romantic art in Vilnius, especially of his drawings from life which depicted the costumes of all social classes, different types of people, and everyday details. It is clear that Bachmatowicz rendered the drawings by his teacher in his own style, to make them more graceful and idealised.
Sheet four includes six different drawings, of a Jewish peddler bargaining with women, children of the nobility playing in a park, a fisherman in a boat, and other subjects. The simple figures are eye-catching, with their interesting situations and their freedom of movement. They depict everyday moments captured by a pencil. The central composition of two Lithuanian peasants stopping on a dirt road beside a cross stands out from the others. The general character of the scene and the detail of their costumes seem to anticipate the interest in ethnographic studies in the second half of the 19th century.

Text author Rūta Janonienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album RES PUBLICA (2018). Compiler and author Rūta Janonienė