1866 -1895 · Warsaw, impressionism and symbolist dazzlingness

Vibrant streets, nervous portraits and a black horse carried away make Władysław Podkowiÿski a meteor of Polish modernity.

Władysław Podkowiÿski was born in Warsaw in 1866 and died in that city in 1895, at just twenty-eight years old. Orphaned by a very young father, he took courses at the Warsaw Drawing School with Wojciech Gerson and Antoni Kamieÿski. He then worked as an illustrator for several newspapers, a profession which refined his ability to quickly capture an urban scene, a silhouette or an event. In 1888, he went to Paris with Józef Pankiewicz. The discovery of Monet, Pissarro and impressionist painting radically transformed his palette. Returning to Warsaw, Podkowiÿski applied light colors, colored shadows and a divided touch to streets, gardens and stages socialites. Rue Nowy Çwiat on a summer day observes one of the capital's main arteries from his studio. Fiacres, passers-by, trees and facades dissolve in a moving light which makes the modern city an atmospheric spectacle. His landscapes of Mokotów and Chrzanów continue this research, despite the hostility of part of Polish criticism towards impressionism. Podkowiÿski nevertheless remains a remarkable portraitist. In the Portrait of Wincentyna Karska, pose, costume and gaze unite social elegance and inner tension. Around 1893, pose, costume and gaze unite social elegance and inner tension. Podkowiÿski nevertheless remains a remarkable portraitist. In the Portrait of Wincentyna Karska, pose, costume and gaze unite social elegance and inner tension. Around 1893, his painting darkens and approaches symbolism. Frenzy of Exultations, exhibited in 1894 at the Zachéta, represents a naked woman clinging to an immense black horse launched into a dizzying race. Mane, hair, body diagonal and dark background condense desire, abandonment and threat. The work attracts a considerable crowd, but also causes scandal and personal comments. After thirty-six days of exhibition, Podkowiÿski himself slashed the canvas with a knife. The gesture, which had become legendary, helped make the painting an icon of Young Poland. Suffering from tuberculosis, the artist died a few months later. In less than a decade, he went from realistic illustration to impressionism and then to a symbolist vision of exceptional power. The selection "Władysław Podkowiÿski" puts particularly next to Rue Nowy Çwiat on a summer day and Portrait of Wincentyna Karska. His reading favors color.

Podkowiÿski burns the steps: the light of the street becomes pure color, then the black horse takes the painting towards the symbol.