1870 -1936 · Polish-Lithuanian symbolism, dramatic landscape and theater

Torn land, immense clouds, dark sea and isolated houses give the landscapes of Ferdynand Ruszczyc a cosmic and national power.

Ferdynand Ruszczyc was born in 1870 in Bohdanów, now in Belarus, into a family linked to Polish and Lithuanian cultures. He first studied law in Saint Petersburg then entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, where he received teaching from Ivan Shishkin and Arkhip Kouindji. From Shishkin comes attention to the structure of the landscape; from Kouindji, the taste for powerful lighting and atmospheric contrasts. Returning to Bohdanów, Ruszczyc observes fields, trees, waterways, snow and sky in all seasons. The Earth, painted in 1898, almost reduces the scene to two forces: heavy and fertile plowed soil, topped with a sky that occupies most of the canvas. Man and oxen become tiny in this confrontation between human work and nature. Nec mergitur transposes the same tension into a ship assailed by the sea and the storm, an image of resistance more than simple navy. Ruszczyc exhibits with Polish modernist circles and participates in the artistic life of Warsaw, Krakow and Vilnius. After a relatively brief period of painting, he devoted himself more to teaching, scenography, graphics, cultural organization and the preservation of Vilnius' heritage. After a relatively brief period of painting, he devoted himself more to teaching, scenography, graphics, cultural organization and the preservation of Vilnius' heritage. After a relatively brief period of painting, he devoted himself more to teaching, scenography, graphics, cultural organization and the preservation of Vilnius' heritage. After a relatively brief period of painting, he devoted himself more to teaching, scenography, graphics, cultural organization and the preservation of Vilnius' heritage. After a relatively brief period of painting, he devoted himself more to teaching, scenography, graphics, cultural organization and the preservation of Vilnius' heritage. After a relatively brief period of painting, he devoted himself more to teaching, scenography, graphics, cultural organization and the preservation of Vilnius' heritage. After a relatively brief period of painting, he devoted himself more to teaching, scenography, graphics, cultural organization and the preservation of Vilnius' heritage. After a relatively brief period of painting, he devoted himself more to teaching, scenography, graphics, cultural organization and the preservation of Vilnius' heritage. After a relatively brief period of painting, he where the landscape becomes memory, destiny and spiritual force. The "Ferdynand Ruszczyc" selection notably compares Nec mergitur and La Terre. His reading favors figures.

Ruszczyc enlarges the sky and weighs down the earth until the landscape ceases to be a place to become a test of resistance.