Wacław Borowski

The palette here is monochromatic. The faraway look of the sitter and a thoughtful expression on his face, his arms hanging powerlessly down imply a nonchalance typical of Young Poland’s decadent aura. Perfectly executed, the uncovered body parts of the depicted man are juxtaposed with sketchy undefined clothes that blend in with the neutrally coloured background.

The face – the part that expresses the most – being the focus of the presentation seems to have been intended by the artist to illuminate the character of the sitter. The portrait was possibly painted when both artists were in Paris; they both had attended the Kraków Academy but could not have met there. Wacław Borowski (1885–1954) was a painter, graphic artists and stage designer. He lived in Paris between 1909 and 1913, than travelled around Italy before settling in Switzerland. After returning to his motherland, he fought in the Polish-Soviet War.

He was a member of the Rytm Association of Polish Artists and the Ryt Association of Graphic Artists. His creative output mostly included (Renaissance-inspired) idyllic scenes in the Neoclassical aesthetic of the interwar period.

Tomasz Jeziorowski [in:] Irena Buchenfeld, Grupa Pięciu (1905-1908). Zapomniani buntownicy Młodej Polski, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, Kraków 2026.