Portrait of a lady in a living room

Leon Wyczółkowski was a versatile artist. He left many excellent works, mainly landscapes, made in various techniques, but he was also a valued portraitist. After 1883, a new trend appeared in his work – salon portrait. Paintings of this type were commissioned by members of the wealthy bourgeoisie and aristocracy. They presented a kind of intimate individual or group portrait, popular at that time, in the type of genre scenes set in the privacy of the home. In episodes from the life of the establishment, maintained in the realist-academic convention, Wyczółkowski was able to suggestively convey narrative tension and intimate atmosphere. In comparison with his later works, these works do not impress with the applied colour palette, but they testify to their author's sensitivity and colouristic potential.

Like many other artists of that time, Wyczółkowski became fascinated with the culture of the Far East through Feliks Jasieński, its most influential advocate in Poland at the beginning of the 20th century. Like others, he more or less consciously introduced to his work creative solutions and motifs inspired by Japanese art. The painting of the Impressionists equally enchanted him, and under its influence, he radically changed the colour palette.

Portret pani w salonie [Portrait of a Lady in the Living Room] is a synthesis of the elements mentioned above. In terms of genre, it refers to the salon portraits painted about ten years earlier. However, the composition of the painting, the richness of patterns and designs, and the way of painting indicate the use of the achievements of the Eastern masters and Impressionists. The scene shows an elegant lady in an interior, giving the impression of an intensely coloured mosaic. The woman sitting on a sofa is lost in thought, preoccupied after reading a letter she is holding in her hand. She looks at the viewer with an expression of resignation, intensified by the opulent furnishings – the salon is filled with luxurious furniture, upholstered in silk floral fabrics and precious trinkets. The varied colour solutions bring out the ambiguity of the scene – the space, vibrating with specks, seems to absorb the figure in the shimmering dress. The model's face and hands, rendered with a few larger, bright spots, are visible against the mosaic-like, dark background. In the facial expression and hand gesture, the artist has focused the emotional expression of the portrayed.

Bożena Kasperowicz