[11][12] Adam Gorczyński was a creator of the Polish Romantic era, associated with emigrant literature and Slavophilia,[13] whose development coincided with the period from 1815 (the confirmation of the partitions of Poland by the Congress of Vienna) to 1863 (the fall of the January Uprising).

[14] During this time, the paths of European Romanticism were shaped by social changes, and Polish political events defined its distinct national-patriotic character.

Gorczyński's literary work was characterized by the affirmation of native customs, familiar landscapes, and ancient legends, with its main features being patriotism, regionalism, historicism, and populism.

[17]Plowing fathers' field,If a hidden legend's yield,String it on our rosary's chain,A spark of old stones, make it plain.Brush against a stone, long ignored,From its depths, a spark restored,To brighten the thoughts of kin,Unearthing tales buried within;If less fortune smiles your way,From hills and huts, a scene to sway,Craft a picture for all to see,In every stroke, our history;Many a capital, our fathers' land,Painted with patterns, hand in hand,Feeds our eyes with beauty's grace,Leaves a mark, in time and space.Characteristic of Gorczyński's work were stories akin to gawęda szlachecka.

[8] Among the most popular stories were: Zamek Libusza;[19] Kto się w opiekę poda Panu Swemu; Niedźwiedzica; Górnice; Kwestia o Wilczy Dołek; Żaki; Kapitalik; Syn Chrzestny; Hełm Jaksy; Wróżba Maruchy; Pan Królowej ruskiej; Zwierciadełko; Skała św.

[8] The action of Gorczyński's historical tales often took place in romantic-gothic scenery, such as dungeons and castles, mysterious caves and abandoned chapels (the story Balice).

The basis for these works were legends recorded by Gorczyński during his national wanderings, often with friends – Wincenty Pol, Jan Nepomucen Głowacki, and Leon Dembowski [pl].

[28] He also translated William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which relied on well-known sentimental conventions supplemented with elements of hagiography and gawęda szlachecka.

[17] A quarter of a century after his death, he was described as a novelist and playwright, once quite renowned, whose works were favorably received because they appeared during a great literary drought in the country and because they seemed to be based on local legends, which were highly valued at the time.

(...) Amidst so many literary coryphaeuses, a humble foot soldier cannot advance, and I live out my days peacefully in the countryside, as good God has ordained for me.

[34] Kraków's Czas [pl] in a posthumous tribute in 1876 wrote: Adam Gorczyński belonged to the slim ranks of writers who sought to enliven literary activity amidst the most enduring censorship and complete indifference to books.

[8] A source-based analysis of Gorczyński's works in terms of local history based on the discovered parish archive in Stryszów, where his family were patrons, was published in 2021.

[41] In the heat he lies, sweat on his brow,Doctor's fees beyond him now;Kraków, distant, seems to mock,But Mr. Wróbleski, like a rock,Once visited, a kind grace,Prescribed some medicine to embrace.Will he again, in his plight,Visit the poor man this night?The ideological content of Adam Gorczyński's paintings also belonged to Polish Romanticism, in which realistic tendencies dominated, objectively representing reality.

[43] The characteristic features of this type of landscape were the approach to the subject, attention to detail, delicate lines, uniform texture, and expressive use of color.

[46][47] Gorczyński authored several hundred paintings in the style of Polish Romanticism, which, like his literary works, had a clear patriotic and independence character in the context of the political situation in partitioned Poland.

[8] From his Viennese master, Steinfeld, he adopted an artistic form that originated directly from the 18th-century Alpine painting school,[48] characterized by picturesque scenes, precise framing, and delicate colors.

Gorczyński himself was convinced of the correspondence between literature and painting,[8][44] especially literary landscapes, about which he wrote in three essays: O Janie Nepomucenie Głowackim, artyście krakowskim, i o krajobrazie w obecnym czasie (1862),[49] Obrazki rodzajowe (1855), and Pejzaż (Urywek z myśli o sztuce) (1853).

Gorczyński's Romantic sarmatism manifested itself in his fondness for the folklore of western Galicia, local color, idyllic landscapes, and the history of his homeland.

[57] From the early 1840s, Adam Gorczyński befriended and collaborated with Ludwik Klucki [pl], a lawyer, Slavophile, and politician from Cieszyn, who, despite being Moravian, considered the Polish environment his own.

Both were close to the group led by Prince Jerzy Henryk Lubomirski [pl], who advocated the idea of unity among Austrian Slavs based on the Habsburg monarchy.

[17] He published texts on current social and political topics in the Dziennik Mód Paryskich (English: Paris Fashion Journal), a publication in Lviv during the 1840s–1849s, whose title was a misleading camouflage for Austrian censorship vigilance.

[64] In 2012, an updated study of Gorczyński's work was published, which led to his selection as an extraordinary figure of spiritual life from our region as the patron of the painting exhibition Charming Monuments of the Carp Valley [pl] in Tomice near Wadowice.

[65][66] Thanks to subsequent local initiatives, the Municipal Public Library in Brzeźnica published the monograph Romantyk z Brzeźnicy in 2014, which also included a selection of Adam Gorczyński's literary works.