In 1849 the painter Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski (also: Alfred Kowalski-Wierusz) was born in Suwalki, a town in northeast Poland near the Lithuanian border. He spent his childhood there on an estate. In 1868 he began to study at the Warsaw Art Academy, in 1869 he transferred to the academy in Dresden and then to Prague. In 1873 he changed his place of education again and eventually completed his studies at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1876. He studied with the Hungarian painter Alexander von Wagner and afterwards at the studio of Jozef Brandt, another historical painter with Polish roots. In Munich Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski became active as freelance artist in a circle of Polish artist who had settled in Munich after fleeing their home country from Russian reign in the 19th century. Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski soon became one of the most important representatives of the Polish artists in Munich. In 1890 he was appointed professor at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts.
Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski‘s agile painting style and his bright colors were met with approval by the art traders and collectors of his times. In dramatic and very lively scenes Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski predominantly depicted folk life in Poland and Galicia, often with horse-drawn carriages or swift sleigh rides through snow-covered landscapes.
Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski received numerous prizes and honors for his paintings, for instance the gold medal at the International Art Exhibition in Berlin in 1896. Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski died in Munich in 1915.