INTRODUCTION

PAINTING
IN POLAND

I N   G A L L E R Y

Scene before a Duel

Old Man and Young Maiden

A Girl

St. Mary's Church
at Night

Four-in-Hand

Aleksander GIERYMSKI /1850-1901/ - “Scene before a Duel”,

oil on canvas,  signed and dated,  17.1/4x22.1/2”

This early painting of Aleksander Gierymski reveals the influence of his older brother, Maksymilian, an outstanding painter who was interested in old art. Aleksander Gierymski’s choice of subject (dueling) and the way it is handled confirm his interest in it as well. The solid realistic training in the Munich Art Academy (where he studied from 1868) and the many drawings and woodcuts executed for Watsaw periodicals enabled the artist to create a suggestive painting, in great detail, such as the eighteenth century costumes and furnishings. We are transported to the beautiful epoch of rococo.

Yet it is not just the faithful re-creation of contemporary fashions and interior that represent the real merit of the work. It is the mood: pale early morning light scatters the darkness of the salon where, after a sleepless night, a young man and his seconds prepare for the duel about to take place.

A melancholy meditation on his fate, dependent on his accurate aim, or perhaps a fortunate miss of the deadly thrust of the opponent’s sword or his bullet, is timed by the relentless mantelpiece clock. The spectator who paces before the fireplace conveys growing nervousness in a seemingly static scene.

This painting by a young artist was successfully exhibited in 1870 at the Society to Encourage Fine Arts (Zachęta) in Warsaw. Gierymski would return to rococo motifs a few years later when he painted one of his most famous paintings, “The Bower,” which was the original experiment of Polish Impressionism.