Dimensions: 48 x 55 x 23 cm
Signed and labeled on the back at the bottom: 'Szymanowski' | 'Gres Emile MULLER'
Hollowed-out inscription on the reverse: 'Gres Emile MULLER'
Provenance
Collection of journalist and social activist Maria Jodko-Narkiewicz (1866–1951), Bobownia (purchased after an exhibition at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1903)
Collection of art historian Marie-Christine David, Paris
Private collection, Poland
Exhibited
Exhibition of Works by Wacław Szymanowski, Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland, Warsaw, 1903
Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Kraków, 1903
15th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession, Vienna, November–December 1902
Bibliography
Wacław Szymanowski 1859–1930, exhibition catalog, edited by Hanna Kotkowska-Bareja, National Museum in Warsaw, Warsaw 1981, cat. no. 58 (sculptures lost), p. 125 (ill.)
Janina Wiercińska, Catalog of Works Exhibited at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw, 1860–1914, Wrocław–Warsaw–Kraków 1969, p. 371
Report of the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland for the Year 1903, Warsaw 1904, p. 47
Kazimierz Broniewski, “On Art: An Exhibition by Wacław Szymanowski,” *Kurjer Warszawski*, 1903, no. 157, p. 4
Eligiusz Niewiadomski, “From the Exhibition [of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts],” “Tygodnik Ilustrowany,” 1903, no. 22, pp. 423–424 (mentioned), 433 (ill.)
Stanisław Krzywoszewski, “Art” in Vienna, “Kraj. Życie i Sztuka” 1902, no. 45, p. 471 (as “Laughter”)
"Ver Sacrum" 1902, no. 23, p. 327 (ill.) (as "Die lachende Welle")
XV. Exhibition of the Association of Austrian Visual Artists (Secession), Vienna, exhibition catalog, Vienna 1902, cat. no. 144, p. 31 (as “Die lachende Welle”)
Biography
The most outstanding Polish sculptor of the Modernist era. He studied in the Drawing Class under Wojciech Gerson in Warsaw, and subsequently in Paris, in the studio of Cyprian Godebski (1875–79) and at the École des Beaux-Arts under the guidance of Eugene Delaplanche (1879–90). He also studied painting at the Munich Academy. From 1895 to 1905, he lived in Paris. In 1913 and from 1921 to 1922, he stayed in Italy. From 1922 onward, he lived in Poland. In his early career, Szymanowski devoted himself mainly to painting, creating works with rural themes, landscapes, and portraits. Around 1976, he devoted himself almost exclusively to sculpture. His early sculptures were marked by the influence of academic aesthetics, characterized by attention to detail and realistic modeling. Later, however, inspired by the work of Constantin Meunier and especially Auguste Rodin, the form of Szymanowski’s sculptures began to undergo generalization, featuring fluid, Art Nouveau-style contours and a sketchy treatment of the form. The artist’s favorite motif became an asymmetrical form, arranged in the shape of a wave, which lent dynamism to the composition. Among the artist’s outstanding monumental works are the ARTUR GROTTGER MONUMENT in the Planty Park in Kraków (designed in 1898, unveiled in 1903) and the FRYDERYK CHOPIN MONUMENT in Warsaw’s Łazienki Park. Among Szymanowski’s extensive body of work, his portraits also deserve special attention; in them, a faithful rendering of the model’s features is combined with a sketch-like virtuosity in modeling the form (including those of Jacek Malczewski, Leon Karwacki, Janina Wierusz-Kowalska).
