Jacek Malczewski, PORTRET WANDA KUCZYÑSKA, 1913

81.0 x 64.5 cm - oil, board signed l.g.: J. Malczewski | 1913 | May

On the reverse, central oval stamp of Rosa Aleksandrowicz's painting supplies store in Cracow.



Provenance: the circle of the family of the Portrayed.



When painting female portraits, the artist brings out a certain mysteriousness of beings living close to nature, whether the beautiful lady wears a hat on her head or, having grasped a bow and arrows, imitates the divine Diana.

Teresa Grzybkowska



Wanda Helena Maria née Pauli (Pauli) Kuczynska (1889-1918) was the daughter of Karol Pauli, a graduate of the Technical Academy in Lviv, a geometer, super-engineer and inspector of state railroads, and Lucyna Wanda Izydora née Klapkowskis. Her grandfather, Joseph Pauli, and uncle Edward were foresters. The latter explored the nature of the Tatra Mountains - including caves - and took part in the first winter expedition to Morskie Oko.



Just before World War I, Wanda - rumor has it that she was the most beautiful woman in Krakow - married the famous Krakow photographer Jozef Kuczynski (1876-1952). Kuczynski specialized in portrait photography; his clientele included members of Krakow's elite and refined guests from outside the city. He circulated in the circle of Krakow's bohemians, was friends with Malczewski, Wyczółkowski, Dunikowski and collected works of art. Both Jozef and his father Feliks were portrayed by Malczewski; both portraits, as well as three other works from his collection, were displayed at the painter's posthumous exhibition in 1939.

Wanda and Jozef married around 1913, and lived to have three children, but unfortunately their marriage was not long. In 1918. Wanda, while pregnant, died during the Spanish flu epidemic, to the great despair of her husband, who never married again. The offered painting was probably one of the most personal mementos of his late wife, hence Kuczynski did not lend it to the aforementioned exhibition.



Devoid of attributes or fantastic scenery, the painting depicting Wanda was created as a portrait of a fiancée or wife. It undoubtedly has an aura of mystery, as Teresa Grzybkowska writes (The World of Paintings by Jacek Malczewski, ed. A. and M. Dochnal S. Kowalski, Warsaw 1996, p. 36). Sitting on a garden bench, the young woman is immersed in contemplation. What she is thinking about is revealed by the flowers she holds in her hands. Bflowers are a symbol of attachment, fidelity and unwavering constancy, and are sometimes given as a gift to a spouse. The portrait's face is highlighted by sharp, even supernatural rays of light, transferring the feeling connecting Wanda and her beloved to a transcendent dimension. He did not play with love, he considered it a sacrament," Michalina Janoszanka wrote about Malczewski. Undoubtedly, the artist, who knew the Kuczynskis, knew how strong the feeling between them was. Hence, with all seriousness, using very subtle symbolism, he created a work in which he included his idealistic image of love.

Jacek Malczewski (Radom 1854 - Krakow 1929) - a prominent representative of Polish modernism painting, began his artistic studies at the School of Fine Arts in Krakow, where in 1872-1875 he studied under Feliks Szynalewski, Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and Jan Matejko, whose studio he attended again in 1877-1879. He then studied at the Paris École des Beaux Arts under E. Lehmann (1876-1877).

In 1880, he traveled to Italy. In 1884-1885, he took part - as a draughtsman - in Karol Lanckoroński's scientific expedition to Pamphylia and Pisidia in Little Asia. At that time he was also in Greece and Italy. In 1885-1886 he stayed in Munich for several months. Upon his return, he settled permanently in Cracow, from where he made further trips to Munich and Italy. In 1896-1900 he taught at the Cracow School of Fine Arts, and from 1911-1922 he was a professor and twice rector of the Cracow Academy. He spent the years 1914-1915 in Vienna and returned to Krakow in 1916. In the last years of his life he stayed mainly in Luslawice and Charzewice near Zakliczyn. He was a co-founder of the Society of Polish Artists "Art" (1897) and a member of the "Zero" group (1908).
In the early period of his career, he painted portraits, genre scenes and - above all - paintings with themes related to the martyrdom of Poles after the January Uprising (Death of Ellenai, Sunday in the Mine, On the Stage, Christmas Eve in Siberia). Later, from the 1890s, he created paintings with symbolic content with intermingled patriotic, biblical, fairy-tale, literary and allegorical-fantastic themes.