Wind in autumn

Ferdynand Ruszczyc's Wind in Autumn from 1901 captures the dramatic seasonal shift of the Polish-Lithuanian landscape under the force of autumn storms. Ruszczyc was among the leading Polish Symbolist painters, drawn to landscapes charged with elemental energy and a sense of impending change. He painted the forests and fields of his native region around Bohdanów with an intensity that transformed conventional landscape into something more ominous and alive. The Lithuanian Art Museum holds this work as part of their significant Ruszczyc collection — the painter's life and career were intimately connected with Lithuania as much as with Poland.

Ruszczyc conveys the wind's force through dynamic, diagonal composition — trees bent, leaves flying, the sky turbulent. His brushwork mirrors the meteorological energy of the scene, with directional strokes that follow the movement of wind through the landscape. The palette shifts toward the warm ochres and burnt siennas of autumn foliage caught in late light.