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Painting: Portrait of Helena Potocka née Zamoyska
4. ćwierć XVIII wieku
Castle Museum in Łańcut
Part of the collection: Malarstwo i rysunek
The painting "In Front of a Mirror" was created in 1942, during the period when the Czedekowski family lived in Vienna, and the artist was prohibited from practising his profession by the Gestapo. Despite increasing difficulties in obtaining paints and canvas, the artist continued to paint. These were smaller portraits, for which, at times, his daughter Helena posed. Here, she is depicted only from the shoulders up. She looks straight ahead, gazing into our eyes, as the viewer becomes the mirror in which she observes her reflection. Her calm face has rosy cheeks, a straight nose, and nicely defined naturally coral-coloured lips. Broad, brown eyebrows frame her hazel eyes, which look intently at us. Her dark hair, brushed away from the forehead, is styled into fluffy waves and pinned at the back of her head. A pinkish-white veil lies over them, which Helena is trying to pin up. The veil also falls over her shoulders and is held in place by her hands on the right side of her head. The fingers of her raised left hand hold the fabric, while her right hand is ready to secure a hairpin. Around her neck is a short string of pearls, which are Czedekowski's most frequently painted jewels. Her fingers are adorned with delicate gold rings. The light pink veil adds a splash of colour to her dark graphite blouse or dress. The modesty of her outfit and its muted tones harmonise well with the serious expression on the young woman’s face. The background, on the right, shows a portion of a patterned fabric in warm shades of brown and muted yellow. In the upper left corner, a mix of pale greens and browns blends together, uniting both fragments of the background. This is a very successful painting by Bolesław Czedekowski, though it lacks the play of chiaroscuro that the artist was skilled at. But, after all, Helena is merely looking into a mirror...
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 and, after the artist's death, the donor of numerous canvases collected in the Łańcut museum.
Dorota Błoniarz
Author / creator
Object type
painting
Technique
olej
Material
canvas, oil-color
Creation time / dating
Creation / finding place
Owner
Muzeum - Zamek w Łańcucie
Identification number
Location / status
4. ćwierć XVIII wieku
Castle Museum in Łańcut
20th century
Castle Museum in Łańcut
20th century, 2. połowa XX wieku
Castle Museum in Łańcut
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National Museum in Lublin
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