Wojciech Kossak (1856 Paris - 1942 Krakow), Portrait of Irena Luca, 1923.

oil, canvas pasted on cardboard, 21 × 17.5 cm
signed, dated, with dedication on the middle l.: " (...?)
Irena Luce/Wojciech Kossak/1923"

"I have a flirt, Miss Luce from the Warsaw Opera, a charming creature, and she has a voice like a bird. She has arrived, and since I know her from the musical evenings at Izycka's, so I have a representative of young, elegant and pleasant womanhood."

Wojciech Kossak, "Letters to his wife and friends (1883-1942)", vol. II, 1908-1942, ed. K. Olszański, Cracow 1985, p. 203

In addition to historical painting, portrait painting was a key aspect of Wojciech Kossak's work. He became famous for his representative images of, among others, Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, President Ignacy Moscicki, or high-ranking officers. The artist was also posed by aristocrats. "A significant part of Wojciech's work during these years (the 1920s) was precisely portraits, which were very popular especially among "equestrians." Not for the first time Kossak turned out to be an excellent portraitist, accurately depicting the type of figures not only of military or equestrians, conjoined with a horse, but also of civilians, then again with particular grace, finesse and elegance he painted refined ladies. Sometimes, under the influence of the client, he embellished the model on the canvas, but this did not in any way detract from the character of the figures he recreated." (K. Olszański, "Wojciech Kossak", Wrocław - Kraków, 1976, p. 40.) A frequent model of Wojciech Kossak was his long-time friend, soprano of the Warsaw Opera, Irena Luce. Wojciech himself wrote the following about her in a letter from 1918 - "I have a flirt, Miss Luce from the Warsaw Opera, a lovely creature, and she has a voice like a bird. She has arrived, and since I know her from musical evenings at Izycka's, so I have a representative of young, elegant and pleasant womanhood." (Wojciech Kossak, "Letters to his wife and friends (1883-1942)", vol. II, 1908 -1942, compiled by. K. Olszański, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Krakow 1985, p. 203.). A few years later, in 1921, the beautiful soprano accompanied Kossak on his trip to New York. From the time of this trip comes a portrait of the singer as an amazon on horseback (Wojciech Kossak, "Letters to his wife (...)", op. cit., il. p.346 (here the painting is erroneously dated 1922). In 1924, Irena again accompanied Wojciech on a trip - this time to Paris. In the following years, the artist married the wealthy American Wilson and settled in the French capital.