Wojciech WEISS (1875-1950), Girl in folk costume - study, ca. 1905

oil, cardboard; 68 x 48 cm;
Signed p. d.: WW;
On the reverse, figurative sketch in pencil; and No. 0223 and numeral 4, below facsimile of artist WW.
Study for the painting "Pensive. Girl in folk costume" from 1905.
Wojciech Weiss' painting "Girl in Folk Costume" is included in:
- Renata Weiss, Malopolska Fascination. Wojciech Weiss in Strzyżów 1898-1903, Strzyżów 2020, p. 55;
- Irena Kossowska, Łukasz Kossowski, Polish Painting. Symbolism and Young Poland, Warsaw 2010, cat. no. 414;
- Exhibition: Young Poland. Words, Images, Spaces, [exhibition catalog] 2007.
This portrait of a young girl in folk costume (typical of the Podkarpacie and Rzeszów areas) is an example of Wojciech Weiss's fascination with native folklore, like that of other outstanding painters of the Young Poland period. The artist paints the colorful corset with bold, broad brushstrokes. Subdued reds alternate with greens, and all these dynamic lines are sunk into the deep blue of the wool fabric of the ornate kaftan. The woman's neck is adorned with a string of beads, the red of which creates a harmonious complement to the warm green of the shawl surrounding the portrait's head.
This portrait is a preparatory study for Wojciech Weiss' famous, oft-published painting Zamyślona. A Girl in Folk Costume, which features the same girl, wearing the same corset and green shawl. Her figure has been incorporated into the spring scenery of the Strzyż landscape. At this point it is worth explaining that Wojciech Weiss regularly resided in the Podkarpacie region of Strzyżów in 1898-1903, and it was there that his greatest works were created: Poppies, Radiant Sunset, and Possession. Thus, his fascination with the folklore of the region is fully justified; moreover, the portrayed woman may have belonged to his circle of Strzyżów acquaintances. The final version of the portrait of Zadumana can be considered a metaphor for the pessimistic emotionalism of the modernist generation. The painting was analyzed in a recent book devoted to the modernist era of the artist's work: Young Poland's Fascination. Wojciech Weiss in Strzyżów ( 2020, pp. 54,55), and also reproduced in the monograph Polish Painting. Symbolism and Young Poland by Irena and Łukasz Kossowski, (published by Arkady, 2010 ) and juxtaposed with works by Wyspianski, Jarocki and other artists succumbing to peasantry. The painting Zadumana was also reproduced in the album-catalog accompanying the exhibition Młoda Polska. Words. Images. Spaces. In Tribute to Stanisław Wyspiański, organized by the A. Mickiewicz Museum of Literature in Warsaw ( 2007).