Giewont Massif (1, 895 m- 6, 217 ft)
Poland
In Giewont (oil on canvas, 39,5 x 55,5 cm, 1870, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie.
The painter
Aleksander
Kotsis was a Polish painter. He created landscapes, portraits, and
genre scenes in a combination Romantic and Realistic style. Most of his
paintings are small. He grew up just outside Kraków, where his family
had a small farm. They moved into Kraków in 1846 to become merchants and
he began his studies in 1850 at the Academy of Fine Arts with Wojciech
Stattler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz. His father was not supportive of
his studies, so he had to continue working in their shop and taking his
lessons intermittently. In 1857, he began exhibiting with the Society of
Friends of Fine Arts. Finally he sold some paintings and, with the
assistance of Stattler, obtained a scholarship from the Ministry of
Religion and Education which enabled him to enroll at the Academy of
Fine Arts, Vienna, where he studied with Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller,
among others. He returned to Kraków in 1862 and became involved with a
patriotic group that met in the studio of the sculptor, Parys Filippi,
which was located in the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. Although this
group became involved in the January Uprising, Kotsis spent most of the years 1862 to 1864 painting church murals.
After
receiving another scholarship in 1866, he moved to Warsaw, then to
Paris in 1867, followed by Brussels. When he returned home, he
established a studio and worked constantly, spending his summers
painting en plein aire in the Tatra mountains. He also began exhibiting
extensively throughout Poland and Northern Europe. After 1870, he
travelled frequently and, from 1871 to 1875, lived primarily in Munich,
where he often exhibited with the Kunstverein München. He shared a
studio with his friends, Antoni Kozakiewicz and Franz Streitt, and went
on painting excursions to the Bavarian Alps with them. In 1875, he
received an offer of a professorial chair at his alma mater but, that
same year, was diagnosed with an incurable brain disorder. He was forced
to refuse the chair and was unable to continue working.[ He died two years later.
The mountain
Giewont is
a mountain massif in the Tatra Mountains of Poland. It is 1,895 m - at
its highest.The massif has three peaks (all m/metres in AMSL):
- Great Giewont - Wielki Giewont (1,895 m- 6, 217 ft)
- Long Giewont - Długi Giewont (1,867 m- 6, 125 ft)
- Small Giewont - Polish Mały Giewont (1,728 m - 5,669 ft)
There is a mountain pass located between Great and Long Giewont, known
as Szczerba (1,823 m- 5, 980 ft). Long Giewont and Great Giewont are
situated at a higher altitude than the nearby town of Zakopane, making
them clearly visible from that city.
On Great Giewont, there is a
15 m steel cross (erected in 1901) - the site of religious pilgrimages.
The area is notorious for its hazardous nature during thunderstorms, so
this should be taken into consideration when approaching the summit.
The first recorded ascent to Giewont's summit was undertaken in 1830 by
Franciszek Herbich and Aleksander Zawadzki (a19th century explorer).
The first winter ascent of Giewont occurred in 1904 by a group of five
mountaineers led by Mariusz Zaruski. Nowadays the climbing on Giewont is
strictly banned. On the other hand, hiking on the hiking trails is
allowed and the access (except the winter) is not difficult hence
Giewont is a very popular destination among amblers and Sunday tourists.
In the summer up to few thousands tourists a day ascend the top.
_______________________________
2022 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
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