Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885 Warsaw - 1939 Jeziory in Polesie), Portrait of a Woman, 1938.

pastel, light brown cardboard, 67 × 46 cm (light passe-partout)
Signed, dated and inscribed l. d.: "Ign. Witkiewicz/ 1938 IV (T.B.) ", lower right "NPP"

Witkacy painted the image of a mysterious, beautiful model with a penetrating gaze according to the rules established by Witkacy's one-man Portrait Company for the "B" type portrait. "Among the most common types of portraits were those marked with the letter B - defined by the artist as 'a characteristic type, 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." So 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 convention 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, portraits of type A were 100 zlotys more expensive than images of type B, which also cost a not inconsiderable 250 zlotys, the equivalent of a decent monthly salary at the time." (B. Zgodzińska-Wojciechowska, A. Żakiewicza, "Witkacy. Collection of works by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz in the Museum of Central Pomerania in Słupsk",
Warsaw 1996, p.33.)