Vlastimil Hofman, AUTOPORTRET, ca. 1905

19,4 x 15,1cm - oil, cardboard On the back an opinion by Leszek Ludwikowski dated August 1975.



Presenting an excellent painting technique, Wlastimil Hofman's intimate self-portrait deserves special attention. It was created quite early, when the young artist, already a graduate of the Krakow academy, after further studies in Paris, began to achieve his first significant successes. The work is characterized by a vivid palette, characteristic of this moment of the artist's work, quite close to the palette of his master Jacek Malczewski, which was later lightened in Hofman's work.

In the painting we see the likeness of a young symbolist, dressed in an outfit characteristic of a representative of Krakow's bohemian society of the time - a dark coat and a wide-brimmed hat. In the distance stretches a landscape plunged in darkness. The artist's face, which shows concentration, but also anxiety, brings out a sharp ray of light from the shadows.

In attempting to interpret the self-portrait on offer, it is worth referring to the artist's biography and recalling the context of the problem of national identity with which the young Hofman was confronted. Born into a Polish-Czech family and raised by his parents as a Czech patriot, Wlastimil made a conversion of national identity. This change began under the influence of Jacek Malczewski, as Dorota Kudelska writes, describing the circumstances of Hofman's departure from Stanislavsky's studio to Malczewski's, while it was influenced by the creative stance the young artist took under the master's influence: Difficult to prove, although probable, in view of the great esteem Hofman held for the person and work of Malczewski, is the opinion that the reason for his imminent departure from the class of the famous landscape painter was also the disputes and numerous arguments within the academy between the two teachers with strong personalities. (...) I think that at least one more reason can be added here, indicated indirectly by the painter himself, who described lyricism as a specifically Polish feature of Malczewski's painting, he also found it in himself, thanks to which he finally defined himself as a Pole. The mood in Malczewski's canvases is almost always created by narrative figural compositions, something that Hofman also cannot do without, and something that Stanislavsky did not need at all (D. Kudelska, Wlastimil Hofman, [in:] Wlastimio Hofman's Paintings from Polish and Czech Collections [exhibition catalog], Karkonosze Museum, Jelenia Góra, Szklarska Poreba 2003, p. 10).

This transformation in Hofman did not happen suddenly, but was the result of a long process that continued for several years after his graduation, as the author goes on to write: The dilemmas associated with the need to define one's nationality, from the time he gained maturity and independent judgment in this matter, were a source of many internal dilemmas for Hofman. The constant incompatibility of his feelings and deepest convictions with outward declarations of "I am a Czech" caused him much grief. Doubts began to grow during his studies. He settled the issue for a time, defining himself internally as a Czech with a Polish tendency toward lyricism, which, according to his distinctions at the time, was an eminently Polish trait in painting. In Paris and Munich he still defines himself as a Czech, from 1904 he belongs to the Association of Czech Artists "Manes", but gradually leans to the side of Polishness, to appear in 1909 in the Polish-Czech art exhibition in Hodonn as a Polish artist from the Cracow circle (D. Kudelska, op. cit., pp. 10-11).



♣ a fee will be added to the auctioned price, in addition to other costs, based on the right of the artist and his heirs to receive remuneration in accordance with the Law of February 4, 1994 - on Copyright and Related Rights (droit de suite).

Wlastimil Hofman / Vlastimil Hofmann (Prague 1881 - Szklarska Poreba 1970) studied at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow - initially under Florian Cynk, later also under Jan Stanislawski, Leon Wyczółkowski and Jacek Malczewski. In 1899-1902 he still studied with Jean Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. During World War I he stayed in Prague and Paris; from 1920 he lived permanently in Cracow. He exhibited a lot; he belonged to many creative associations - he was a co-founder of the "Group of Five" (1905) and the "Group of Zero" (1908), a member of the Association of Czech Artists "Manes", and from 1911 a member of the Polish Artists' Society "Sztuka". During World War II, through the USSR and Turkey, he made his way to Jerusalem, from where he returned to Krakow in 1946. Since 1947 he lived permanently in Szklarska Poreba. Hofman painted primarily fantastic-symbolic compositions with folk motifs, as well as genre scenes, portraits and landscapes. His paintings, despite close analogies and connections with the art of Malczewski, are always distinguished by their individual character, style and mood.