Spring has come again

The content of paintings by Jacek Malczewski, Poland's leading Symbolist painter, was linked to two key themes: the national liberation struggle and self-analysis - the personal sphere, included in the triad of Poland-art-death themes. Early in his career, the painter became interested in folklore. Between 1867 and 1871, he stayed at the estate of his uncle, Feliks Karczewski, in Wielgie, where he observed rural life proceeding in a rhythm determined by nature. Under the supervision of Adolf Dygasiński - a naturalist and future writer - he learnt the secrets of nature, folk beliefs and customs. This few-years episode had a great significance for the biography of the artist. Through closer acquaintance with the beauty of the native landscape and folklore, the initial interest in folklore turned into a long-term fascination. The folk motif, which appeared in Malczewski's paintings in the 1870s, continued to run through his later works. In his early works folklore was combined with strictly generic themes. With time, genre and ethnographic realities gave way to fantasy, and the country girls were transformed into phantoms and fantastic creatures - nymphs, mermaids, chimeras, harpies.

The 1890 painting Spring Again was created in an earlier period and is a rural genre scene enriched with anecdote. It shows two figures, an old man and a girl, who have stopped their activities in the yard for a while, exposing themselves to the warm rays of the spring sun. In their persons, the artist portrayed different temperaments, genders and two stages of life. The figure of the old man in dark clothes leaning on a shovel contrasts with the youthful, free pose of the woman. With his back turned, the tired and apathetic man pays no attention to his companion who is watching him with interest. Dressed in a white outfit, the girl forms a colourful whole with the pink and white fabric drying on the fence. This contrast of colours completes the effect of the characters' distinctiveness. Spring fills the girl with vitality, the old man does not yield to its influence. The courtyard is surrounded by young, juicy greenery. The roofs of large buildings are visible above the green line.

Spring has been the subject of many of Malczewski's paintings, varying in terms of sources of inspiration and treatment. They all have one common element, crucial to the painter's entire oeuvre - the figure of a woman.

Bożena Kasperowicz