Stanislaw Kamocki, PORTRET DAMY, 1896

92,9 x 60,8 cm - oil, canvas

On the back of the stretcher a sticker of an auction house in Warsaw; in addition, on the lower bar of the frame a stamp of a picture framing company.



Provenance:

Painting from the collection of the Pochwalski family - heirs of the artist. From 1912 Stanislaw Kamocki was married to Zofia née Zathey, whose sister Jadwiga was the wife of painter Wladyslaw Jan Pochwalski and mother of painters Kasper and Stanislaw Pochwalski.



The portrait of the lady is, against the background of Stanisław Kamocki's later work, a kind of rarity, one of the very few examples of this painter-landscape artist's interest in the human figure. The painting was created during the artist's studies in the studio of Leon Wyczółkowski. The painting dates from Portrait of a Woman in a Black Dress, 1896 painted by Wojciech Weiss during the same classes (R. Weiss, Accords of Light and Color: Wojciech Weiss and Aneri, Regional Museum, Stalowa Wola 2007, cat. no. 11, pp. 42-43, il). The two paintings differ in perspective due to the positioning of the easel around the model.


Stanislaw Kamocki (Warsaw 1875 - Zakopane 1944) was a landscape painter considered one of the most outstanding painters from the "Stanislawski school". Son of architect Kazimierz Kamocki, he learned drawing from his father. In 1891-1900 he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow, including under Leon Wyczółkowski, Jacek Malczewski and Jan Stanislawski. In 1900 he was awarded a silver medal for landscapes. After his studies, he traveled to Paris (1901-1902) and Italy (1904-1905). In 1915-1919, while serving in the First Brigade of the Legions, he drew and painted portraits of legionaries. From 1920 he was a professor of landscape painting at his alma mater and went on numerous plein-air painting trips with his students. He was a member of several creative associations, including the Tow. of Polish Artists "Art," the Tow. of Polish Applied Art, and the Tow. of Podhale Art. He spent the years of occupation in Zakopane, still engaged in teaching. He painted mainly landscapes from the vicinity of Cracow and Podhale, but also from trips to Podolia and Volhynia and from his travels abroad. Less frequently, he painted still lifes and interiors. His paintings are characterized by outstanding decorative qualities. The artist was also involved in printmaking, especially lithography. He was the author of posters and programs of the Cracow cabaret "Zielony Balonik".