Andriolli was very successful in his homeland, but Paris, where he made his debut in 1864 as an artist escaping deportation, was an opportunity to change that was necessary after the death of his daughter, mother and marital problems. In January 1883 the famous French illustrator Gustave Doré died, and publishers sought a worthy successor. That year, the journal “Figaro” announced an illustration competition for a special issue. Among several winners was Andriolli, who sent his illustrations for the book by the famous writer Alexander Dumas.

Andriolli went to Paris and won a lucrative contract. In mid-April he returned to Warsaw and for the duration of his several years’ stay abroad he handed over the care of Brzegi to his sister and niece Maria Kłopotowska. In late April he left for Paris together with his wife Natalia. They settled in the artists’ district, at 118 Montparnasse. There, working mainly for Firmin-Didot, he also cooperated with other Paris, London and Warsaw publishers.

Some of the works he completed included illustrations for Le Dernier des Mohicans (The Last of the Mohicans) by James Fenimore Cooper, Le Capitaine Fracasse (Captain Fracasse) by Teophil Gauthier and the French edition of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Apart from working for French publishers, he also made study tours. In January 1884 he went to Italy, where he created sketches for Roméo et Juliette. In May 1884 he and his wife went on holidays to their homeland.

His position was so high that in September 1884, he represented Parisian illustrators at an artistic and literary congress in Madrid on artistic and copyright rights. In October, he and his wife returned to Paris, which was soon seized by a cholera epidemic. Memoirs record this as a very difficult time for him. Illustration and trade in books almost froze, Paris became deserted and he became depressed, mainly because of marital problems which soon led to divorce. In the spring of 1885 he left Paris, seeing many places he sketched, visiting his friends. At the end of April the Andriollis arrived in Brzegi.

The Parisian period was for him a time of comfortable prosperity. As he wrote:

I will just add that for once in my life, I have been able to apply myself to working in such conditions: silence, peace and complete forgetfulness of what is happening around me – above all, no money issue. It is the work for the spirit – a moral need that I have been suffering from for a long time. I am not working – but I am floating, feverish, despairing, taking heart, I am losing my strength again, and I am rising once more.

At that time, his plans to illustrate Mickiewicz’s works were drawn up. In April 1886 Andriolli returned to his homeland. He created the commissioned drawings in his studio in Brzegi and sent them to publishers. Meanwhile, the first volume of illustrated works by Shakespeare with his illustrations was published in Paris. 

His works were also published in magazines, including “La chasse illustree” and “LeVoleur”.