Wlastimil HOFMAN, The golden-haired angel

Oil, canvas, 30 x 39.5cm; signed l.d.: Wlastimil Hofman 1925.

Beginning in 1896, he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Krakow, newly reformed by Fałat, under J. Stanislawski, L. Wyczółkowski and J. Malczewski. He continued his studies at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts under J.L. Gérôme in 1899-1901. He was a founder of the Group of Five (1905) and the Group of Zero (1908), a member of the Vienna Secession (1907, as the first Pole), the Association of Czech Artists "Manes" and the Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka". He remained heavily influenced by his Krakow masters. He painted genre scenes, portraits and landscapes, but is best known for his fantastic-symbolic compositions with folk motifs.