Self-portrait instudio

Alfons Karpiński painted Autoportret w pracowni [The Self-Portrait in a Studio] (1960) a year before his death. It is a multi-element horizontal composition. The artist is sitting in his studio, on the right side of the painting, facing his easel. He is painting a portrait of the woman; Karpiński is famous for this type of representation, having produced numerous images of women in various contexts. These works are distinguished by subtlety and beauty and an ability to show characterological features. They differ from portraits painted by other Polish artists, characterised by a certain amount of lewdness. In Karpiński's works, women are not presented in an object-like way. Instead, a fascination with femininity emerges in each of his works. This way of painting appealed to the portrayed, which made him quickly famous. In the testamentary self-portrait, on the shelf of the easel there is a turquoise dish with marsh marigolds, while on the left side of the easel there is a shelf with two white dishes, in one there are brushes, in the other red flowers. Karpiński, as a representative of the decorative trend in the art of the early twentieth century and traditionalist tendencies, also painted numerous still lives, especially flowers, in the 1920s and 1930s. He referred to the Impressionists, skilfully using vivid colours, achieving the effect of naturalness. Autoportret w pracowni features a large black clock symbolising the passing of time, and a white resting cat, which corresponds to the white face of the timepiece and the artist's grey hair, creating a kind of bracket for the autobiographical story.

Beata Małgorzata Wolska