Small girl

Stanisław Ludwik de Laveaux is one of those artists whose death is considered decidedly premature (1868-1894). He was highly talented. In his short life, he produced works worthy of being remembered. In 1884-1886 and 1889-1890, he studied in the atelier of Józef Mehoffer at the Kraków School of Fine Arts. From 1886 to 1888, he studied painting under Otto Seitz at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. After completing his studies in 1890, he permanently left for Paris.During his years in Poland, together with Włodzimierz Tetmajer, Wincent Wodzinowski and Stanisław Radziejowski, he took part in plein-airs which the artists jointly developed their fascination with folk culture. It is not without significance for the artist's works in the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin. The painting Dziewczynka [The Girl] (also known as Dziewczynka z baziami [The Girl with Catkins] and Dziewczynka z palmą and [The Girl with a Palm]) was painted in 1887, at the time when de Laveaux was studying in Munich. It is a profile image of a few-year-old country girl holding a palm tree in her hand. Although painted in Bavaria, the picture presents a memory from Krakow, from the customs associated with Palm Sunday. It is a realistic portrait - against a neutral background, there is a girl in a folk costume. The attention is focused on a lit-up face with a rather severe expression. She is not a carefree child but rather a young woman who, among other things, maintains Polish tradition through her costume. It is one of the gestures of hope for regaining independence, which was part of the tendency of the representatives of Young Poland to perpetuate ludic rites. Ludwik de Laveaux went down in history not only with his works but also as a character in Wyspiański's Wesele (The Wedding); it is he who is portrayed as the Phantom in the procession of phantoms (Scene V, Act II).

Beata Małgorzata Wolska