material: bronze
dimensions: wys. 35 cm
description: Wyczółkowski tried his hand at sculpting in the 1890s. The symbolist paintings Fossilized Druid and Sarcophagi were preceded by solid models. Having cast and patinated these sculptures, the artist “portrayed” them in his pictures. During one of his stays in Berezne in Ukraine, an estate which belonged to the Podhorski family, Wyczółkowski modelled the bust of Natałka, a young Russian girl who served at the palace. As he recalled, she was “very pretty, ruddy-cheeked and had something wild in her eyes.” After an unsuccessful attempt to make a sculpture with the use of an internal scaffolding, the artist produced a small-size bust, modelling clay with his fingers. The work combines the styles of Naturalism and Impressionism. The artist managed to convey a good likeness of the sitter and the elements of her attire; he perfectly captured her girlish innocence by using a bit relaxed form with a slightly furrowed surface, susceptible to the play of light and shade. Wacława Milewska
exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice,
The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square
key: Realism, polish impressionism, beginnings of symbolism >>>
dimensions: wys. 35 cm
description: Wyczółkowski tried his hand at sculpting in the 1890s. The symbolist paintings Fossilized Druid and Sarcophagi were preceded by solid models. Having cast and patinated these sculptures, the artist “portrayed” them in his pictures. During one of his stays in Berezne in Ukraine, an estate which belonged to the Podhorski family, Wyczółkowski modelled the bust of Natałka, a young Russian girl who served at the palace. As he recalled, she was “very pretty, ruddy-cheeked and had something wild in her eyes.” After an unsuccessful attempt to make a sculpture with the use of an internal scaffolding, the artist produced a small-size bust, modelling clay with his fingers. The work combines the styles of Naturalism and Impressionism. The artist managed to convey a good likeness of the sitter and the elements of her attire; he perfectly captured her girlish innocence by using a bit relaxed form with a slightly furrowed surface, susceptible to the play of light and shade. Wacława Milewska
exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice,
The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square
key: Realism, polish impressionism, beginnings of symbolism >>>