"Allegro"

Hertha Czedekowska often became the subject of the paintings created by her husband. Sometimes he portrayed her in nudes, usually painting the figure in such a way that it was difficult to definitively identify the model. This time, however, he left no doubt with the painting titled "Allegro." Nearly the entire canvas is filled by two figures—a woman and a man standing behind her. The half-naked woman, facing forward, slightly turns her head to the left. Dark, curly, and somewhat tousled hair falls over her shoulder, with one curl brushing her forehead. Beneath strong, arched eyebrows, her hazel eyes gaze dreamily into the distance. Her face is flushed, and her lips are parted in a smile. Her neckline is adorned with pearls, as is the ear visible through her hair. With her right hand, the woman supports the man’s head, her fingers entwined in his black hair, while her left hand covers his hand resting on her breast. A dark blue garment, lined with light blue, slips off her shoulders. The man standing behind her fades into the nearly black background. Only his bowed head, engaged in a kiss, and his hands are visible. His black clothing blends into the darkness, illuminated only by a single candle flame above his head. The lower part of the painting features muted red and grey white. The composition is built on strong colour contrasts: the cool shades of blue, navy, white bedding, and the black of the background perfectly bring out the pink and orange colours of the bodies of the two figures. 

Bolesław Jan Czedekowski (1885–1969) was a Polish painter born in Voinyliv, in Eastern Galicia. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and later became a student of Professor Kazimierz Pochwalski and Heinrich von Angeli, two renowned portrait painters. He opened his first studio in Vienna and was perhaps most associated with this city during his early artistic career. He also lived in Vienna during World War I, gradually gaining recognition for his portraits of aristocratic women and the wives of high-ranking officers. He exhibited his art in Vienna, Paris, Warsaw, and Kraków, though it was not initially well-received in Poland. After World War II, he immigrated to the United States. In the 1960s, he returned to Vienna, where he passed away on 8 July 1969. He was buried in Lofer, near Salzburg. Czedekowski was married twice. His first marriage, to Viennese Eugenia Nell in 1913, resulted in a daughter named Helena. As a widower, he met Hertha Aujezdecky, who became his second wife. It is thanks to her that the museum in Łańcut has numerous paintings by Czedekowski

Dorota Błoniarz