Napoleon ORDA

Lithograph, paper; 30 x 41 cm (sheet)

Asking price 400

Estimate 700 - 800

Napoleon ORDA

1807 - 1883

Draughtsman, painter, pianist and composer. He was awarded the Virtuti Militari Gold Cross for his participation in the November Uprising. In 1833, forced to emigrate, he settled in Paris. While in exile, he befriended Frédéric Chopin, from whom (as well as from Franz Liszt) he learned to play the piano. With Pierre Girard he took drawing lessons. He took an active part in the life of the Great Emigration. After the Tsar announced an amnesty in 1856, he returned to his homeland. In 1862 he settled in Wierzchownia in Ukraine as a tutor in the home of General Adam Rzewuski, where his passion for drawing the Polish Borderlands developed. His best-known work is "Album of Historical Views of Poland." During his lifetime, eight series of drawings and watercolors were published as part of an album entitled Album of Historical Views of Poland dedicated to Compatriots. They included 260 lithographed drawings and watercolors. The drawings were transferred to lithographic stone by Alojzy Misierowicz (Misyrowicz), while the prints were made in the lithographic studio of Maksymilian Fajans.