Jan Styka, MADONNA, 1906

73.0 x 60.2 cm - oil, cardboard pasted on cardboard, 73 x 60.2 cm

signature p.d.: Jan Styka | 1906



Composition enlarged by the author by gluing additional strips of cardboard on both sides.



On the reverse side, inscription in paint: I consider this Madonna to be one of my best works | I painted it in 1906.

Paris. Place Pigalle. | At the exhibition of George Petit in 1906 | At the Salon AF in 1920.



Inscriptions: - in the middle in blue crayon: 6; - l.d. in red crayon: 3.

Stickers: - printed with obliterated circular mark; - exhibition sticker (print, ink): Municipal Art Gallery in Lodz | Author Jan Styka. | Type of work Oil. | Name "Madonna". | No. catalog 2407 | Date of acceptance 12. III 26.

On the upper bar of the frame auction sticker Agra-Art from 2011.



The painting exhibited in, among others:

- Expositions Jan Styka et Tade Styka, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris 16 - 25 May 1906;

- [cat.] Group exhibition of the late Jan Styka and sons Adam and Tadeusz and R. Radwański, Municipal Art Gallery in Lodz from 14 March to 14 April 1926, p. 5, cat. no. 13;

- [cat.] Exhibition of works by Jan, Tadeusz and Adam Styka, Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts Warsaw 1926, p. nlb., cat. no. 14.



I consider this Madonna to be one of my best works.

(Jan Styka)



After the famous panorama Battle of Raclawice, Styka focused on religious subjects. He realized a youthful dream and traveled to Palestine in 1895. The trip, which lasted just two months, strengthened the artist in his faith and provided numerous sketches and studies for future works. Religious painting occupied a special place in his oeuvre, resulting in further monumental panoramas - Golgotha and then the Martyrdom of Christians in Nero's Circus. Presented at the Palais de Glace on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in 1900, The Martyrdom of the Christians caused a sensation and brought Styka fame and notoriety in France. The artist, along with his family, settled permanently in the French capital, and his atelier was located on Pigalle Square. According to a note posted by Styka on the back of the painting, the work was created in this studio. In 1906, an exhibition by Jan and Tadeusz Styka took place from May 16 to 25 at Paris' Georges Petit Gallery at 8 Rue de Seze (which was also noted by the artist himself on the back). The weekly "La vie moderne" of May 27, 1906 contained a review of this exhibition. It was written then: In Georges Petit's gallery, his [Jan Styka's] talent is shown in a new light: he reveals himself once again, writes M. Jacques Copeau, as a lover of fluently executed female likenesses. What could be better in terms of drawing and coloring than Psyche and Eunice? Although other portraits attracted the attention of critics at the time, the artist himself considered this Madonna to be one of his best works.

The Madonna is an extremely subtle and moving depiction of spirituality, in which the artist reaches for the theme of sanctity in a way that is full of tenderness and mysticism. It is a work in which, instead of monumental, sacred might, we encounter an ethereal and tender vision of the Mother of God, with a subtle beauty that stirs the soul and prompts reverie. In his religious paintings, Styka strove to give the saints' figures a human intimacy, while at the same time emphasizing their spiritual dimension. In the Madonna on display, we see a woman with a gentle gaze, surrounded by an aura of calm and mystical reverie. The Madonna's face is full of quiet contemplation, and her delicate features seem to almost blur in the luminous background. The ethereality of the figure is achieved through subtle, soft tonal transitions, delicate facial illumination and smooth brushstrokes. This is not a portrait of the majestic Queen of Heaven, but of the Mother - warm, gentle, surrounded by an inner light that seems to emanate from within her. Styka, a master of color and light, in this composition consciously limited the color palette to soft, pastel tones. The background of the painting is not richly ornamented, but blurred, almost unreal, as if the Madonna were surrounded by a halo of luminous mist. This impression is enhanced by the feeling of transcendence. Jan Styka repeatedly turned to religious subjects in his work, giving them not only painterly but also deeply spiritual value. The Madonna is one of his most intimate and metaphysical works - devoid of excessive pathos, it portrays a quiet sanctity that manifests itself not in power and triumph, but in gentle contemplation and subtle light.

The success of the exhibition at the Georges Petit gallery allowed Styka to buy land in Garches and build a villa with a studio. It was a grand urban villa designed especially for the painter by Julian Zachariewicz. The most important interior there was a spacious and well-lit studio.

The artist's last annotation on the back reads: At the AF Salon in 1920. It is likely that this was the Salon of the Société de Artistes Français, however, in the illustrated catalog of the 1920 Salon, this work is not listed.



Jan Styka (Lviv 1858 - Rome 1925) - popular painter of historical and battle scenes, author of allegorical and religious paintings, portraitist, father of painters Tadeusz and Adam Styka. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, then in Rome, and from 1882-1885 with Jan Matejko at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow. After his studies, he spent several years in Paris and later lived in Lviv. In 1895 he traveled to Palestine. After 1900 he lived permanently in Paris, from where he traveled to the United States, Italy and Greece. A participant in many exhibitions, including the Paris Salons and the World Exhibition in St. Louis (1904), he enjoyed considerable popularity and even fame. He was a member of the Academy of St. Luke in Rome. He was also the originator and co-author of famous panoramas - Panorama of the Battle of Raclawice (1892-1894; exhibited permanently in Wroclaw today; together with W. Kossak and others), Golgotha (1896; now in Los Angeles), Panorama of Transylvania (1897; cut into parts, only fragments remain), and Martyrdom of Christians in Nero's Circus (1899; canvas lost during World War I). He was involved in illustration, including preparing illustrations for a luxury edition of Quo vadis? Sienkiewicz.