Woman with a vase

In 1882-1895, Teodor Axentowicz studied in Paris, in the atelier of the famous Carolus-Duran - one of the most famous portrait painters working in Paris in the 1870s. His stay in the French capital shaped the artist into a versatile portraitist, who gained popularity among the Parisian elite. He gained popularity and recognition for his portraits of beautiful ladies - the daughter of the editor-in-chief of "Le Figaro" Henrietta Fouquier and the outstanding French actress Sara Bernhardt. After his return to Kraków, Axentowicz quickly gained fame as the author of refined, idealised portraits of women, whose grace and charm he could perfectly convey. He repeatedly returned to the initial motif of a naked girl with a blue vase, which he modified in various approaches and media - pastel and graphic techniques - aluminorite, algraphy, fluorofort or dry needle. The artist treated printmaking as a technical experiment rather than as a basic tool for creating a visual message. The attempts he made were only a means to achieve his primary goal, which was a female portrait for Axentowicz. The images, created in graphic techniques, appeared on the vignettes of the literary and artistic weekly "Życie" [Life], the board of the "Teki Stowarzyszenia Polskich Artystów Grafików" [Portfolio of the Association of Polish Graphic Artists] and the posters of the Society of Polish Artists "Art". The lady portrayed in them is a famous for her beauty red-haired Young Poland beauty and the artist's favourite model, Ama (Ata) Zakrzewska. It was probably her image that the artist used in the black and grey tonality of the algraphy depicting a sensual, naked figure framed up to her thighs. Axentowicz concentrated on the effect of combining a black patch of the model's luxuriant hair with a vase held on her shoulder with a refined gesture, which brings out the outline of her face and the contour of her breasts. The decorative character of the shot is emphasised by the soft, subtle line of the drawing, showing the artist's virtuosity in the use of forms characteristic of Art Nouveau art.

Anna Hałata