In June 1847, a public exhibition of paintings opened in Lviv. It was not the first event of its kind in the city, but it was certainly the largest to date. In the upper rooms of the right wing of the Ossolineum building, 763 works were presented, of which nearly 300 were the so-called Lviv Salon, a display of works by contemporary artists associated with the city. All of the collected paintings came from the collections of private owners - collectors, but also the artists themselves, who thus made their paintings available to a wide range of art audiences. In the small brochure List of paintings collected for public exhibition by the Friends of Humanity for the benefit of the Institute of the Poor, which is the catalogue of the exhibition, the painting entitled Inn in Podolia by Jan Maszkowski is listed under number 401. It was donated to the exhibition by the author himself, along with several other of his works. A description of the composition exhibited at the time is contained in one of the press reviews written by the lawyer and art lover Seweryn Celarski:

"Inn. A long Jewish man stands behind the rail, pouring beer into a glass with cunningly calculated economy. Under the bar sits a peasant in a fur coat, sideways to the audience, facing the Jew. His entire posture masterfully conveys his very low mental constitution, sluggishness, and bullying. To the side sits a young couple, capable of loftier feelings; the farmhand courts the girl, gracefully grasping her hand, gazing at her, joking and she is ashamed. Tender love speaks in their every movement" (Wystawa obrazów we Lwowie 1847, "Dziennik Mód Paryskich" 1847, no. 12, pp. 120-121).

Taking into account the general arrangement of the figures and the spatial relationships between them, the composition of the painting presented at the time is consistent with the scene depicted in the work belonging to the collection of the Lviv National Art Gallery.

It is a small (only 27 x 33.5 cm) oil painting on canvas, which was donated to the museum by Julia Mussilova in 1919. The year date next to the signature is unfortunately not entirely clear, but it is most likely 1845. It is uncertain whether the surviving painting can be identified with the work exhibited at the Lviv exhibition in 1847. Indeed, it is likely that the artist made several variants of the same subject. There are some (secondary) differences between the quoted description by Celarski and the scene depicted in it - for example, the critic did not mention the fifth figure in the interior, i.e. a peasant in a straw hat standing at the back. Nor does the suitor romantically hold his chosen one's hand, but instead slips her a glass of vodka - she actually grabs his hand in an attempt, it seems, to refuse the offer. This makes the nature of the amours depicted seem more rubbishy than sentimental, as Celarski saw it. However, the question of his proposed interpretation of the intentions, emotions or inner lives of all the characters remains subject to the subjectivity of the gaze. And it must also be remembered that, with the 'carpet' system of displaying works crowded on the walls, which was commonly used at 19th-century exhibitions, and usually not the best lighting, it could often be difficult to see the details of the paintings. However, regardless of whether it was the same object or two similar compositions, The Inn at Podolia is an example of a genre scene, of which there were more in Maszkowski's oeuvre.

The painting draws on the motif of inn scenes popularised by 17th-century Flemish and Dutch painting. Using the traditional motif of an alcohol-fuelled courtship, the artist created a composition that is very universal in its anecdotal layer (and, we must admit, already quite trivialised), but realised in a regional costume. This painting manifests the characteristic features of Jan Maszkowski's style, both the positive ones, which include the precision of rendering details and the translation of the traditional painterly motif into native reality and the emphasis on local colour, and the negative ones, connected primarily with the low level of drawing skills manifested in the stiffness and unnaturalness of the figures. These shortcomings were already noticed by his contemporaries, who nevertheless turned a blind eye to them, appreciating the painter's take on subjects drawn from everyday life, especially those of a light, humorous nature. Maszkowski was one of the first Lviv artists to take up genre themes, and certainly one who contributed significantly to the popularisation of this genre.

The choice of Podolia as the setting for his tavern scene was certainly not accidental. It was a region the artist knew very well. For there, or more precisely in the village of Chorostków, he was born and raised. Having revealed his artistic talent at an early age, he attracted the attention of the owner of the estate, Józef Lewicki, who took him under his protection and made his artistic education possible. The young Jan Maszkowski was first sent by him to Lviv, and after a few years of initial study, to Vienna, where he took up studies at the Academy of Fine Arts. With the support of his protector, he also spent several years in Italy. On his return to Galicia, he spent several years in the provinces, working at manors, finally settling in Lviv in 1832. His ambition, it seems, was to devote himself to large-scale historical subjects, but he failed to achieve this goal - whether due to the lack of a market for similar works among Lviv's patrons, or perhaps rather insufficient mastery, despite years of study and foreign travel, of his workshop skills. Eventually he gained some popularity as the author of portraits and genre scenes precisely, not only of peasants, but even more often of the Sarmatian nobility. His greatest achievement, however, and the reason for the important role he played in Lviv's painting community of the second quarter of the 19th century, was his teaching activity. For years he gave lessons in drawing and painting, first at the State Academy at the University of Lwow, and after the school was closed, in his private studio. He educated many outstanding artists, such as: Juliusz Kossak, Artur Grottger or Aleksander Raczyński.

Location: Lviv National Art Gallery, Lviv