WATERMARK = IDEAS + TRAVEL + ART: THE ART OF STANISLAW WYSPIANSKI

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

THE ART OF STANISLAW WYSPIANSKI

You probably have never heard of Stanislaw Wyspianski unless you grew up in Poland. I did and i would like to introduce him and his beautiful art to you. I have grown up with these images and they hold a special place in my heart. The portraits of young girls, children, mothers tending to their child are the most common themes I remember. Most of his portraits are those of his own family members, wife Teodora and children: Stas, Mietek and Helenka.

"Self Portrait" by Stanislaw Wyspianski, 1894

Wyspianski (1869-1907) was an artist of many trades and talents. He created oil paintings, pastel drawings, illustrations, designed furniture and stained glass windows. He was a theatre director, draughtsman and a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. He was born and lived in Krakow and many of his artworks portray his beloved city, where he got educated and spent most of his adult life. He also traveled all over Europe including France, taking up fine art studies in Paris at Colarossi Academy. He worked under the famous Polish painter Jan Matejko.

In addition to his art, he also became famous, among others, for his playwrights like Wesele - "The Wedding" (1901), and poetry ( "Niech nikt and groom mi in place? Let No One Cry over My Grave" 1903 ) and he is considered by Poles as one of most important Polish writers after Adam Mickiewicz, and Juliusz Slowacki.

I don't want to rewrite his biography here, just to share his artwork, so if you are interested in more details of his life or his multitude of literary work, please go to the bottom of this page for more resources.

I found his artwork tender and moody. It places me right there with children and other portrait sitters. I can feel the intimacy of the moment thanks to brisk and quick movements of the line, I can sense the immediacy of the frozen moment in the expressive marks of the faces. I find Wyspianski's portraits captivating and I feel like I can't make myself stop looking at them. Hope you will find his artwork as mesmerizing as I do. Enjoy!