Landscape

Władysław Malecki studied painting both in Warsaw, under Chrystian Breslauer, and in Munich, under Eduard Schleich. He specialised in realistic landscapes. In 1869, he returned to Poland, and in 1870 (most probably in autumn), he went once again to Munich, where he spent about ten years. That was the best period in the artist's life and work. He took part in numerous exhibitions and was awarded many prizes. Władysław Malecki was considered a landscape painter of natural talent. He attracted attention with his picturesqueness and artistic sensitivity. He tried to convey the characteristic features of the landscape and the time of day and year. Light played an essential role in this context. One of the examples of paintings in which the artist managed to capture nature at sunset is Pejzaż [Landscape] from 1876, held in the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin. It was composed horizontally. In the foreground, a meadow is depicted, and to the left, the edge of a forest. On the right-hand side of the painting, a row of poplars can be seen on the horizon line. At the edge of the forest, silhouettes of two figures are depicted, and horses are seen grazing in the meadow in the second and third planes. The artist built the mood using warm colours with dominating shades of green, but everything is lit with warm light. Trees have been treated more realistically than people. It is one of the landscapes in which the influence of the Munich school is evident.

Beata Małgorzata Wolska