Zdzislaw Jasinski (1863 Warsaw - 1932 there), Bribes on Castle Square, 1923.

oil, canvas pasted on cardboard, 72 × 54.5 cm (light frame)
Signed and dated p. d.: "Zd. Jasinski./1923"

"Great talent, great personal and professional culture, high measure of craftsmanship in the use of oil paint, exquisiteness and vitality of color, panache and fantasy."
Apoloniusz Kędzierski, "Zdzisław Jasiński 1863-1932:," Warsaw 1934, p. 3.


The work presented at the auction shows a scene taking place at the foot of the pedestal of the Column of Sigismund III Vasa, in Warsaw's Castle Square. The composition bears all the characteristic features of the artist's paintings, which so delighted both critics and the public - incredible sensitivity to color, wonderfully captured light or, finally, the very subject of the genre scene, which Jasinski took up so often and willingly in his work. In the painting, we see three women traders by the railing surrounding a Warsaw monument, vividly discussing among themselves. Right next to them, shrouded somewhat in shadow, sits a man. Above them is a figure of a muscular triton, blowing a shell-shaped horn.
One of the four distinctive triton figures was created in 1854, when a design for the buildings surrounding the Sigismund's Column by Henryk Marconi was created in connection with the construction of a water supply system. The design called for a cast-iron balustrade, with four triton figures situated at the corners of the fountain's pool. The author of the water-spouting mythological creatures was German sculptor August Kiss. The sculptures were cast from zinc at the Karol Juliusz Minter factory in Warsaw.
The Tritons, known from numerous postcards from the early 20th century, as well as from Jasinski's painting on display, survived until the late 1920s, when during restoration work it was decided to return to the original appearance of the Column's surroundings, removing the pool, railings. The Triton sculptures were transported to the Museum of Waterworks and Sewage Systems on the grounds of the Warsaw Filtration Station, where they were unfortunately lost and their further fate is unknown.