Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885 Warsaw - 1939 Jeziory in Polesie), Portrait of a man, 1936.

pastel, paper, 62 × 48 cm in light passe-partout
signed at the bottom: "Ign Witkiewicz 1936 4/V NP. NII (pi) (T.B)"

The work after conservation.

The painting comes with an expert opinion of Witkacologist Dr. Anna Żakiewicz (curator and author of many exhibitions and publications about Witkacy, curator of Witkacy's collection at the National Museum in Warsaw).

"Among the most frequently chosen types of portraits were those marked with the letter B - defined by the artist as 'a characteristic kind, without the shadow of caricature[m] with a certain undercutting of characteristic features, which does not exclude prettiness' in female portraits. Relationship to the model objective." Thus, it was a realistic image, fully consistent not only with the appearance of the person portrayed, but also with the expectations and taste of the client of the time, who was mostly from the wealthy bourgeoisie. Sometimes, during a portrait session, Witkacy would change his mind about the conventions of the image and make "mixtures" of types; he would add another type to the one originally agreed upon, e.g. "A" - "the relatively most 'licked' type. According to the Company's Price List, A-type portraits were 100 zlotys more expensive than B-type images, which also cost a not inconsiderable 250 zlotys, the equivalent of a decent monthly salary at the time."
B. Zgodzińska-Wojciechowska, A. Żakiewicz, "Witkacy. Collection of works by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz in the Museum of Central Pomerania in Słupsk", Warsaw 1996, p.33.