Portrait of a woman

Cyprian Kamil Norwid was a versatile artist - an outstanding writer of poetry, prose, drama, drawings and prints. His artistic activity began in 1837, when he began studying at the Warsaw School of Painting. In 1842, Norwid set off on a journey across Europe, visiting Kraków, Dresden, Marienbad, Prague, Nuremberg, Munich, and Italy. An important event in his artistic career was a trip to Venice and Florence in 1843, where he began artistic studies in sculpture and engraving and acquired new skills under the guidance of Vincenzo Della Bruna. The artist set a price list that referred to the type of composition - a single-figure piece cost 50 francs, a more elaborate one was twice as expensive. He was involved in creating illustrations for magazines and religious compositions.

Norwid's works can be found in the collections of the National Library, the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Museum in Krakow and the Jagiellonian Library. Owned by the National Museum in Lublin, the female portrait is a small drawing, executed with care and attention to detail. The young woman is shown wearing a dress with wide, airy sleeves. Her hair is combed smoothly back with a ribbon. The perceptible subtlety and gracefulness in the portrayal of beauty are characteristic of the idealistic-lyrical type, which can be distinguished in Norwid's depictions of women. Both the representations of young and mature women shape a subtle vision of femininity. The artist highlighted the features of beauty, idealised features are visible here, the body is covered by softly falling loose folds of robes, modelled on those of antiquity, covering the slim figure of the young figure. The delicacy, accentuated by the author's characteristic rounded line, adds lyricism to the figure.

The authorship of the drawing is attributed to Norwid, which is confirmed by a document in the form of a letter from M. Rutkowski and a stylistic analysis conducted by Edyta Chlebowska. From the document, we learn about the attribution, about which Rutkowski had no doubts. The drawing found its way to the National Museum in Lublin thanks to its director, Wiktor Ziółkowski, who headed the institution in the years 1944-1948 - an artist, graphic artist, publicist and art critic.

Klara Sadkowska