Old man and a girl

Teodor Axentowicz (1859-1938) is one of the outstanding artists of Young Poland. His activity was focused around genre motifs connected mainly with the folklore of the Hutsul region and portrait painting.

Folk themes appeared in Axentowicz's works during his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich in the 1880s, he also continued them in Paris, in the atelier of E. A. Carolus-Duran, using plein-air sketches made during his trips to the Hutsul Region, near Kołomyja and Jamna. In 1895, Teodor Axentowicz returned to Kraków and, at the request of Julian Fałat, took up the post of a professor at the local academy. The artist became involved in the artistic life of Krakow, where he established a school of painting for women; he was also active in the Society of Polish Artists "Art", which he co-founded.

A popular theme, which Axentowicz often used, is the representation of an old man, often depicted as a lirnyk, accompanied by a young country girl or child. The figure of the old man, usually grey-bearded, leaning on a walking stick, dressed in dark clothes, can be identified with the artist. The thoughtful, melancholic girl standing next to him, leaning against the trunk of a tree, wearing a colourful kerchief on her head, seems to be a sad memory of her past youth. Referring to the contrast between old age and youth, ugliness and beauty, Axentowicz takes up the symbolic theme of the nature of human life and the inevitability of passing. The surrounding autumn nature is also significant; the vanitas character of the composition is emphasised by dried, golden leaves and leafless trees looming in the background. The artist, with his characteristic painterly discipline, uses sparing colours. He limits the range of colours to the necessary minimum, also using the neutral background of the paper. As in other compositions of this type, he builds the representation using contrasting colour combinations - brown clothes and a tree trunk with accents of vivid red, green and blue. /p>

Anna Hałata