COLLECTION NAME:
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
mediaCollectionId
ArtArtHiAAH~7~7
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
Collection
true
Image Record ID:
aahi0000640
image_record_id
aahi0000640
Image Record ID
false
Work Title (display):
The Poisened Well
Image Title:
full view
Work Dates (display):
1914
Work Dates type:
creation
Work Creator (display):
Jacek Malczewski (Polish, 1854-1929)
Work Creator gender:
male
work_creator_or_agent_gender
male
Work Creator gender
false
Work Creator notes (display):
(b Radom, 15 or 14 July 1854; d Kraków, 8 Oct 1929). Polish painter. He began his training in 1873 in Kraków's School of Fine Arts on the instigation of the historical painter Jan Matejko (183893). Malczewski was initially taught by Władysław Łuszczkiewicz (18281900) and Feliks Szynalewski (182592) and from 1875 worked exclusively under Matejko's supervision. In 18767 he studied under Ernest Lehmann (181482) at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris; here he began to abandon Matejko's historical subject-matter in order to tackle contemporary problems and give expression to his own experiences. He espoused the realism of, among others, Gustave Courbet and the Barbizon school. In 1877 he again studied under Matejko but broke away in 1879. In 1880 he travelled to Italy and in 1884 acted as draughtsman for an archaeological expedition to Asia Minor, visiting en route Vienna, Trieste, the Albanian coastline, Rhodes and Athens. His mature work dates from after a period spent in Munich in 18856. Even in his earliest independent Parisian works, Malczewski treated patrioticmartyrologic subjects derived from the great Polish Romantic poet Juliusz Słowacki (180949), for example the tragic fate of the Polish insurgents deported to Siberia after the anti-Tsarist uprising of January 1863. The painting that won him renown was a huge composition entitled Death of Ellenai (2.12×3.70 m; completed 1883; Kraków, N. Mus.) inspired by J. Słowacki's epic Anhelli, which was first published in Paris in 1838. It initiated the long 'Siberian Cycle' of realistic works characterized by subdued, almost monochrome colour schemes (e.g. Sunday at the Mine, 1.18×1.80 m, 1882; At the Halting-Place, 305×385 mm, 1883; both Warsaw, N. Mus.). Realisticnaturalistic trends became more intense after Malczewski's journey to Munich in 18856, as in Death at the Halting-Place (530×1910 mm; 1891; Poznań, N. Mus.) and such portraits as that of Fortunat Garlewski (1.51×1.10 m; 1889; Poznań, N. Mus.). During the later 1880s, possibly under the influence of Witold Pruszkowski, Malczewski produced paintings on folk art fantasy themes, for example the Water Nymphs cycle (18878; Kraków, Jagiellonian U., Mus. F.A.) as well as his first allegorical compositions (Three Arts of Painting, 1886; untraced). In 1890 Malczewski travelled to Italy (where he returned once more in 1906) via Vienna, and in 1893 to Munich. Malczewski's paintings of the early 1890s heralded a return to symbolism; they include The Introduction: A Little Painter (3.32×2.32 m; 1890; Kraków, N. Mus.) and In the Whirl (780×1500 mm; 1893; Poznań, N. Mus.). In 1894 he completed Melancholy (1.39×2.40 m; Poznań, N. Mus.) and in 18957 the Vicious Circle (1.74×2.40 m; Poznań, N. Mus.); these works convey the pessimism of the late 19th century that stemmed from the thwarted nationalism of the Polish people, interwoven with themes of destiny and the role of art. Around the turn of the century the new symbolic canon evident in Malczewski's painting was embodied in the works that were to win him a place as one of the foremost representatives of Polish modernism. This transformation took place under the influence of more extensive contact with the work of Arnold Böcklin, Fritz von Uhde, Hans Thoma and Franz von Stuck during his stay in Munich in 1893. It was also fuelled by Malczewski's idealisticromantic imagination, manifested in an eclectic iconography, often drawn from Polish folk-tales, mythology and biblical subjects. Several themes can be traced throughout Malczewski's career: patrioticnationalistic motifs; 'existential' subjects, particularly the nature of death and artistic creation; and symbolic portraiture. Nationalistic themes are represented by such works as the triptych Fatherland (1903; Wrocław, N. Mus.) and the cycle the Poisoned Well (19056; Poznań, N. Mus.). Portraits include the Polish Hamlet: Portrait of Aleksander Wielopolski (1.00×1.48 m; 1903; Warsaw, N. Mus.), and among his symbolic compositions are a number with subjects drawn from Słowackifor example later versions of the Death of Ellenai (19067; Poznań, N. Mus.; Warsaw, N. Mus.)and many self-portraits. From 1898 his reflections on death became a distinct category of his work, in which he personified death as the Greek god Thanatos, represented as a young woman with a scythe (e.g. Thanatos, 450×575 mm; 18989; Warsaw, N. Mus.). The figure of Thanatos always appears as a liberator who brings consolation. Questions of destiny and artistic creation are treated in such works as Artist's Inspiration (800×630 mm; 1897; Kraków, Soc. Friends A.). Malczewski frequently personified these themes using the chimerasphinx motif, made popular at the end of the 19th century, which might symbolize art (e.g. Moment of InspirationThe Harpy in Sleep (725×920 mm; 1907; Poznań, priv. col.). From c. 1900 onwards the figure of the artist is personified by Malczewski himself (over 150 self-portraits exist). He identified himself variously with Christ (triptych, Tribute Money; 1908; Poznań, N. Mus.), with biblical characters (Tobias and Parcae; 0.56×1.25 m; 1912; Poznań, N. Mus.), and with saints (St Francis; 1.56×2.01 m; 1908; Warsaw, N. Mus.), and depicted himself in exotic costumes (Self-portrait in a White Gown; 930×780 mm; 1914; Kraków, N. Mus.). From the late 19th century onwards Malczewski's portraits of other sitters also assume a symbolic nature, as in his portrait of the critic and collector Feliks Jasieński (610×500 mm; 1905; Kraków, N. Mus.). Malczewski's stylistic idiom was both traditional and innovative. It combined illusionistic verisimilitude and meticulous analytical line drawing with a simplified treatment of the main motif; traditional perspective with a suggestive, modernistic spatial sense; and delicate natural hues with deliberately harsh, aggressive dissonances. Malczewski's colouring of landscape elements is particularly subtle (e.g. Landscape with Tobias; 760×970 mm; 1904; Poznań, N. Mus.). Between 1896 and 1921 (with a break between 1914 and 1916, when he stayed in Vienna), Malczewski also taught, in particular from 1896 to 1900 and after 1910 at the School (later Academy) of Fine Arts in Kraków; he was Rector there in 191213 and 191314. During his final period Malczewski intensified the 'existential' aspects of his art in the autobiographical cycle My Life (begun 1914), as in My Soul (1×2 m; 1917; Warsaw, N. Mus.). Another of his major works is Polonia (see fig.), which encapsulates Malczewski's reflections on the Polish struggles for independence up to 1918. Malczewski spent his last years on family estates in the Lesser Poland (Małopolska) region. From 1925 he ceased to paint due to failing eyesight. Throughout his career Malczewski exhibited widely both in Poland and abroad as a member of, among others, the 'Sztuka' ('Art') Society of Polish Artists and of the Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs Secession. (Grove Art Online Accessed 2007-10-22)
Work Style Period:
Symbolist
work_styleperiod
Symbolist
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
Post-Impressionist
work_styleperiod
Post-Impressionist
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
Modernist
work_styleperiod
Modernist
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
20th century
work_styleperiod
20th century
Work Style Period
false
Work Subject:
women (female humans)
subject
women (female humans)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
evil
subject
evil
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
poisoners
subject
poisoners
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
poisons
subject
poisons
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
figures
subject
figures
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
wells (structures)
subject
wells (structures)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
death
subject
death
Work Subject
false
Work Worktype:
oil paintings
work_type
oil paintings
Work Worktype
false
Work Worktype:
paintings (visual works)
work_type
paintings (visual works)
Work Worktype
false
Work Category (VRC classification):
paintings
work_category__ucbaahvrc_classification_
paintings
Work Category (VRC classification)
false
Work Material and Technique (display):
oil on canvas
Work Measurements (display):
232 cm (H) x 155 cm (W)
Work Inscription (display):
signed, dated
Work Location (Repository or Site) name:
Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie
Work Location (Repository or Site) role:
repository
Work Location (Repository or Site) refid:
MP 562
Work Location (Repository or Site) refid type:
accession
Work Location (Geographic) name:
Warsaw, Poland
Image Rights (display):
© Ronald Wiedenhoeft. Licensed for educational use via Scholars Resource: Saskia, Ltd.
Image Rights license agreement:
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Work Rights (display):
public domain
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Holding Institution:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Collection:
Art and Art History Visual Resources Center
Collection info and contact:
For information about this collection, see