Eugene ZAK (1884 - 1926), Head of a girl in profile, 1915-1920s

Portrait of a young woman in profile, in subdued, cool colors, captivates with subtlety. The drawn face, with its delicate contours and chiaroscuro modeling, evokes associations with the work of Leonardo da Vinci and Sandra Botticelli, by whom the painter was clearly inspired. The female portrait is a recurring feature in Zak's painting, and as Barbara Brus-Malinowska noted, it allows us to note, by its example, the stylistic changes in the painting of the representative of the École de Paris. Also noteworthy in the way this motif is depicted is the influence of the artist's friend, the sculptor Eli Nadelman, evident in the "synthetic, somewhat geometric depictions of an elongated face with a straight nose, narrow mouth, with closed eyelids and swirling locks of hair." Eugene Zak also painted images of Breton peasants, beggars, harlequins, lover figures and multi-figural scenes, and portrait subjects occupied one of the most important places in his oeuvre.

The appearance of this class of portrait by the artist on the auction market is a treat for collectors. The painting perfectly fits the convention of the painter's works created during and just after the First World War. In 1916 Zak returned to Poland and settled in Czestochowa for several years. A year later, in January, the first solo exhibition of his compositions in Poland was held.