Portret Wilhelma Siemieńskiego-Lewickiego.

Portret Wilhelma Siemieńskiego-Lewickiego (Portrait of Wilhelm Siemieński-Lewicki), dated 1889 and made on paper, is a characteristic late commission from Kossak's social network in Polish Galicia. Siemieński-Lewicki was a Polish nobleman from the Galician landowning class — the social world Kossak inhabited through his aristocratic and intellectual connections. Portrait commissions on paper rather than canvas were typically smaller, more informal works, suggesting an intimate commission rather than a formal gallery piece. By 1889 Kossak was in his late sixties and his portrait practice was largely secondary to his historical and equestrian subjects, though he continued to accept commissions from within his immediate social circle. The Galician context is significant: Austrian Poland allowed Polish cultural life to function with relative freedom, and the noble families of Galicia were among the most committed supporters of Polish arts.

A paper support for portraiture suggests an intimate scale and a more graphic approach, with confident drawing as the primary structural element. Kossak likely worked in pencil, wash, or mixed media on paper to achieve a quick, characterful likeness rather than a laboured finished portrait. The face would receive the most concentrated attention, with costume and setting handled more summarily.