Adam Grabowski (1875–1941, Warsaw) – Portrait of Dr. Ludwika Fesit-Knoff (Warsaw), Watercolor (?)

Adam Grabowski (1875, Warsaw – 1941, Warsaw), “Portrait of Dr. Ludwika Fesit-Knoff”
A miniature portrait of a woman, most likely painted in watercolor and gouache on bone. Signed in the lower right corner: “A. Grabowski.”
Dr. Ludwika Feist Knoff is depicted in a bust portrait, with her torso turned slightly to the side and her face facing the viewer. The young woman, with regular features, large dark eyes, and delicately defined lips, has brown hair parted in the middle and pinned up at the back of her head. She is dressed in a light-colored dress or blouse with lace trim and wears a multicolored necklace around her neck. The cool, bluish-gray background is rendered with short, distinct brushstrokes.
The portrait is rendered in the realistic style characteristic of early 20th-century miniature painting. The face is rendered with soft color transitions, featuring a subtle blush on the cheeks and more pronounced details in the eyes and hair. The small format, meticulous attention to detail, and decorative frame suggest that the work was intended as a private keepsake.
The work is set in a narrow, rectangular frame with a gilded surface, centered within a round mount made of dark, polished wood. The wooden frame is profiled and decorated with two concentric brass bands, either inlaid or applied. The reverse side is covered with cardboard and fitted with a metal hanging loop. On the reverse, the date “2.2.1942” is handwritten, likely the date the portrait was given as a gift.
The work comes from the former collection of collector Andrzej Czernik. The work appears in his personal inventory, compiled around 1950, under entry 12 in the “paintings” category as “Adam Grabowski, miniature of Sister Ludwika née Feist Knoff, oval on bone, 7 x 6 cm.”
Adam Grabowski was a Polish painter, draftsman, and printmaker based in Warsaw. He created portraits, landscapes, architectural views, still lifes, and floral compositions, working primarily in watercolor, gouache, and printmaking techniques. In 1921, he participated in the preparation of the lithographic portfolio “Portraits of Distinguished Poles,” creating, among others, a portrait of Zygmunt Krasiński. His views of Warsaw and Toruń, landscapes, and still lifes also appear on the auction market. The surviving biographical information about the artist is fragmentary; therefore, the details of his education and career require further research.

Ludwika Feist-Knoffowa was a physician and the second wife of Dr. Wacław Knoff. She married him after the dissolution of his first marriage in 1923. According to a surviving family memoir, she played a significant role in organizing the sanatorium in Karolina, intended for people suffering from nervous exhaustion and in need of treatment and rest.
Her work in Karolina is confirmed by a commemorative publication by the Warsaw Medical Aid Society from 1935. It noted that for three years she devoted a considerable amount of time, as well as her professional expertise and selfless effort, to the sanatorium.
During the German occupation, Ludwika Feist-Knoffowa was involved in the operation of a vacation home in Karolina, which was frequented by members of Warsaw’s intellectual elite. According to later accounts, in December 1947 she signed an agreement with the founders of the “Mazowsze” ensemble, under which she made the first floor of the former sanatorium building available to the ensemble’s children. This event played an important role in the early days of “Mazowsze” in Karolina. The obituary database records Ludwika Feist-Knoffowa’s death on April 19, 1976.
Dimensions of the image: 6.5 × 5.5 cm.
Frame diameter: 13.8 cm.
Condition: as shown in the photos.