Jacek MALCZEWSKI (1854-1929), Polonia - Allegory, 1909

oil, duplicated canvas; 77 x 55.5 cm;
Signed and dated p. d.: J.Malczewski 1909;
painting after conservation

Literature: Stefania Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, Jacek Malczewski. Life and work, [2015], il. nlb., p. 18.

The offered work, by the eminent Symbolist painter, shows a woman - an allegory of Polonia - in a gesture with her hands raised, surrounded by three male figures in fetters. Jacek Malczewski's metaphorical scenes dealt with patriotic themes, in keeping with the spirit of the Romantic era. He was no stranger to martyrological themes in Polish art and literature of the 19th century. They resulted from both the upbringing he received at home and the education provided to the artist by his father Julian. Initially, Jacek Malczewski's general education was handled by Adolf Dygasiński, then the later artist began studying painting at the School of Fine Arts (later the Academy) in Krakow in the studio of Jan Matejko. He was fascinated by the works of Artur Grottger, a painter reporting on the fate of the January Uprising, as well as the literary works of Juliusz Słowacki, which he expressed in his early work by composing works based on the motifs of the poem "Anhelli." An artist and patriot who values his homeland above all else, he repeatedly takes up the theme of a tormented Poland plagued by unsuccessful insurrectionary uprisings, repeatedly depicting her in the guise of a young woman in full vitality, perhaps thus expressing the artist's hope for a change in the country's political situation.
Malczewski also expressed his fondness for his native land in his portrayal of the countryside, the bends of the Vistula River, and Malopolska's landscape motifs, skillfully woven into the symbolic compositions of his works. On the offered canvas, in the background of the last plan, an intimate composition limited by a wall, one can see the looming towers of Krakow's churches against a serene sky. The messianic message contained in the master's paintings is also clear in the presented allegory of Polonia hitherto recognized in the literature as a work of undetermined storage.