#Polish painters

[jareckiworld]

Wiesław Szamborski — Meat (acrylic on canvas, 1980)

[liturgical-agenda]

Crocuses with Snowy Mountains Behind, 1897 by Stanisław Witkiewicz (1851-1915)

[pol-ski]

Archangel Michael fighting Satan by Zofia Stryjeńska (Polish, 1891-1976)

[ars-polonia]

Stanisław Witkiewicz, Noc ukraińska (Ukrainian Night)

1895, oil on canvas

[the-cricket-chirps]

Flower in surreal landscape

Georges Spiro

[spacepacks]

jacek malczewski' paintings headers || like or reblog if you save

[pintoras]

Helene Tüpke-Grande (Polish, 1871-1946): [No title] (via Düsseldorfer Auktionshaus)

[books-typo-and-so-on]

Sebastian Talar - Pączek z konfiturą | Polish doughnut with marmalade (olej na płycie | oil on plate, 20 x 20 cm), 2016 (via Polish Masters of Art)

[augustsappho]

Stańczyk by Jan Matejko (1862)

Description from Britannica (author: Ann Kay)

Stańczyk, oil painting created in 1862 by Polish artist Jan Matejko. It is one of Matejko’s best known works and is an iconic image in Poland.

Historical painting has always been a vital thread in Polish art, and Matejko chronicled Polish history with a verve and romance that earned him a central place in his homeland’s artistic consciousness. Court jester to several Renaissance-era Polish kings, Stańczyk was said to be a man of extraordinary wisdom. Not afraid to wield his satirical wit to criticize those in power, he came to personify the fight for truth over hypocrisy and even Poland’s struggle for independence.

In this painting, Matejko has turned the jester into a symbol of his nation’s conscience. While a ball at the court of Queen Bona (wife of Sigismund I the Old) is in full swing, Stańczyk sits slumped in depression, having just discovered—presumably indicated by papers on the table—that the Polish city of Smolensk has been lost (1514) during war with Moscow. Seating him apart from the rest of the court emphasizes that only he foresees that the war will be disastrous for Poland.

Matejko’s characteristic theatricality and lighting make the painting appear like a scene from a play. The principal player, in a fanciful costume that highlights his seriousness by its contrast, is placed centrally in a spotlight. In the wings, we glimpse the bit players, while outside a window a comet falls portentously. The face is a self-portrait of Matejko himself, and the artist’s finely detailed style adds to the mood, picking out everything from the plushness of the drapes to the distant sparkle of a chandelier. For centuries Stańczyk featured in the work of an array of Polish artists and writers, but this striking image is the one that has endured.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -

Ann Kay is a writer and editor with a degree in the history of art and literature at Kent University and a postgraduate qualification in graphic design from London University. She has also studied book design and jewelry-making. Her work appears in Encyclopaedia Britannica as part of a joint publishing agreement with the publisher of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die and 1001 Amazing Places You Must See Before You Die, where the work originally appeared.

[dark-longings]

Stara prawda w księgach leży ("Old truth lies in books"), Marian Wawrzeniecki, 1910.

[byronthesecond]

Frine alle feste di Poseidone ad Eleusi 1889

Henryk Siemiradzki

[jareckiworld]

Cyryl Polaczek — Funny Weather (oil on plywood, 2022)

[liturgical-agenda]

Krokusy i Kaczeńce (eng: Crocuses and Marsh-Marigolds), 1907 by Stanisław Witkiewicz (1851–1915)

[pol-ski]

Summer Sunset (1896) by Ferdynand Ruszczyc (Polish, 1870–1936)

[ars-polonia]

Marcin Zaleski, Wnętrze Szkoły Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie (Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Inside)

1858, oil on canvas

[the-cricket-chirps]

Kazimir Malevich

Black Square

1915