Józef Kotarbiński as Shylock. Melpomene’s Portfolio

The graphic work comes from Teka Melpomeny [Melpomene Portfolio] published in 1904 in Kraków under the direction of S. Szreniawa-Rzecki. The portfolio contains almost 40 lithographic caricatures depicting actors from Krakow's theatres in a satirical manner. They were prepared by Young Poland artists: W. Bystrzyński, K. Frycz, S. Kuczborski, A. Procajłowicz, S. Szreniawa-Rzecki, K. Sichulski, W. Wojtkiewicz - regulars at the famous Jama Michalika. The prints were made free of charge thanks to Zenon Pruszyński, their friend and owner of a famous Kraków lithography workshop, and the proceeds from the sale of the portfolio were to contribute to the theatre's pension fund.

Józef Kotarbiński (1849-1928) combined his work as an actor, director, literary manager and theatre manager with teaching, journalism and literary criticism. In 1899-1905, as director of the Municipal Theatre in Krakow, he introduced the great Romantic repertoire and the dramas of Stanisław Wyspiański to the stage. The premiere of Wesele [Wedding], staged by Kotarbiński in 1901, became one of the most important events in the history of the Polish theatre. As Antoni Sygietyński wrote in his memoirs, Kotarbiński "above all was a constantly burning devotee of Shakespeare". In Shakespeare's drama Kupiec wenecki [Merchant of Venice] he played the role of the Jewish usurer Shylock, portrayed by Stanisław Kuczborski (1881-1911). The caricature is one of three lithographs by Kuczborski included in Teka Melpomeny. Educated at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, the prematurely deceased Kuczborski belonged to the milieu associated with Michalik's Jama and the Zielony Balonik cabaret, of which he was a co-founder and actor. He belonged to a family with artistic connections; his mother was the sister of Maksymilian and Aleksander Gierymski.

Anna Hałata