The Lviv National Art Gallery has in its collection several very good paintings by the most outstanding Polish painter of the turn of the 20th century, Olga Boznanska. Prominent among them is an image of a man with a penetrating gaze, with his chin resting on a hand folded into a fist. It is one of the best works in the artist's oeuvre. Painted in Paris, it was exhibited at the Salon Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts there in 1904 as 'Portrait of the painter Hirszenberg' and immediately won high praise from French art critics. It was mentioned in reviews published in important magazines such as 'L'Univers', 'Journal des Artistes', 'Bulletin polonais' and 'La Plume'. The author later sent it several more times to important exhibitions, including to the Jubilee Exhibition of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Krakow (1904), the IX Internationale Kunstausstellung im Königlichen Glaspalast zu München in Munich (1905; where it was awarded a gold medal), the exhibition of the Society of Polish Artists 'Sztuka' in Warsaw (1906) and the 12th Annual Exhibition at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh (1908). It was also shown twice in Lviv: at the Universal Exhibition of Polish Art in 1910 and at the Exhibition of Polish Art in 1920. On the latter occasion it was acquired for the collection of the National Gallery of the City of Lviv, from where it was eventually transferred to the Lviv National Art Gallery during the Second World War.

The history of this work is thus detailed and perfectly documented. But the identity of the model was in doubt. From the time of their artistic studies together in Munich, Olga Boznańska had been friends with Samuel Hirszenberg (1865-1908), a painter from Lodz who had already gained a certain fame at the turn of the century mainly through his genre scenes and symbolic compositions, often with Jewish themes. But through him, the artist must also have met his younger brother, Leon Hirszenberg (1869-1945), who also tried his hand at painting. After artistic studies in Munich and a year's scholarship in Italy, he settled permanently in France in 1902, attempting to develop his career, although, in both Polish and foreign artistic circles, he remained in the shadow of his older and more famous brother, with whom he was sometimes confused. It is known that his acquaintance with Boznanska developed during this period, helping him to find his way in the world capital of art and introducing him to the artistic circles of the Polish community.

Although the original title under which Boznanska's work was originally known was simply 'Portrait of the painter Hirszenberg' and it was exhibited as such, as evidenced by the stickers on the back, it was entered in the inventory of the National Gallery of the City of Lwow as 'Portrait of the painter S. Hirszenberg' and since then it has most often been identified in the literature as the image of Samuel. It is still described in this way in the catalogues of the Lviv museum. However, there was a debate among some researchers as to which of the painter's brothers the painting actually depicts. This question was finally settled by Ewa Bobrowska, who found a review from the salon where the work was probably first presented. Alexandre Parmentier wrote at the time: "Mr Hirszenberg, portrayed by his friend Miss Boznanska, exhibits [...] a work entitled Breton Idyll" ("Bulletin polonais 204 littéraire, scientifique et artistique" 1904, no. 191, p. 158.). The above-mentioned painting was executed by Leon; Samuel, by the way, did not participate in this particular exhibition.

It follows that Boznańska portrayed the younger of the Hirszenberg brothers, and at a crucial moment in his career. The aforementioned exhibition was Leon's debut on the ground in Paris, and the acquisition of his painting by the jury of this salon was a significant achievement and confirmed his high aspirations. At about the same time, he discovered Brittany for himself, where, incidentally, he settled. At the same time, he managed to break away from the realist-impressionist inclinations taken over from his older brother and found his own style, inspired by the syntheticism of Władysław Ślewiński. He remained in France permanently, but did not achieve any major artistic success. His painting activities were, moreover, prematurely interrupted in the 1920s, when he lost his sight. Leon's modest artistic output was unfortunately sometimes mistakenly attributed to Samuel, which made his achievements all the more forgotten.

The portrait from the collection of the Lviv National Art Gallery is a testimony to Olga Boznańska's outstanding talent, a document of artistic friendship, but also evidence of Leon Hirszenberg's place in the international art world of the early 20th century.