Dimensions: 48 x 55 x 23 cm
Signed and described on the back, near the base: 'Szymanowski | GRES. Emile Muller'
Origins
collection of publicist 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 Waclaw Szymanowski, Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland, Warsaw, 1903
Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Cracow, 1903
XV. exhibition of the Vienna Secession, Vienna, November-December 1902
Literature
Waclaw Szymanowski 1859-1930, exhibition catalog, ed. Hanna Kotkowska-Bareja, National Museum in Warsaw, Warsaw 1981, cat. no. 58 (lost sculptures), p. 125 (ill.)
Janina Wiercińska, Catalogue of works exhibited at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw in the years 1860-1914, Wrocław-Warszawa-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, From Art. Wystawa Wacława Szymanowskiego, "Kurjer Warszawski" 1903, no. 157, p. 4
Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Z wystawy [of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts], "Tygodnik Ilustrowany" 1903, no. 22, pp. 423-424 (mentioned), 433 (il.)
Stanisław Krzywoszewski, "Art" in Vienna, "Kraj. Life and Art" 1902, no. 45, p. 471 (as "Laughter")
"Ver Sacrum" 1902, no. 23, p. 327 (il.) (as "Die lachende Welle")
XV. Ausstellung der Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs Secession Wien, exhibition catalog, Vienna 1902, cat. no. 144, p. 31 (as "Die lachende Welle")
Biography
The most outstanding Polish sculptor of the modern era. He studied at the Drawing Class under Wojciech Gerson in Warsaw, and then in Paris, in the studio of Cyprian Godebski (1875-79) and École des Beaux-Arts under Eugene Delaplanche (1979-90). He also studied painting at the Munich academy. From 1895-1905 he lived in Paris. In 1913 and in the period 1921-22 he stayed in Italy. From 1922 he lived in the country. In his early work, Szymanowski devoted himself mainly to painting, creating paintings of rural themes, landscapes and portraits. Circa. 1976 he devoted himself almost exclusively to sculpture. His early sculptures showed the influence of the detail-oriented and realistic modeling of academic aesthetics. However, later, thanks to his inspiration from the work of Constantin Meunier and especially Auguste Rodin, the form of Szymanowski's sculptures began to undergo generalization, with the appearance of fluid, Art Nouveau contours and a sketchy treatment of the solid. The asymmetrical form arranged in the shape of a wave, which dynamizes the composition, became a favorite motif used by the artist. Among the artist's outstanding completed monumental works are the ARTUR GROTTGER MONument in the Planty park in Cracow (designed in 1898, unveiled in 1903) and the FRYDERYK CHOPIN MONument in Warsaw's Lazienki Park. Among Szymanowski's rich oeuvre, portraits are also noteworthy, in which faithful rendering of the model's physiognomy is combined with sketchy virtuosity in modeling the figure (e.g., Jacek Malczewski, Leon Karwacki, Janina Wierusz-Kowalska).
