Images of Nature in the Work of Józef Chełmoński

His oeuvre outlined the path towards modernity, towards liberating our painting from patriotic dependencies, and shifting away from idealistic perceptions of the world.

... as well as his ability to sense the slightest changes in its ambience, the simplicity of his landscape motifs and the evocative power of his artistic methods also justify to see him as a precursor of Symbolism, nascent towards the end of the century.

...became apparent already in his childhood and his father consciously nurtured it. This early stage in his life – when he accumulated life experience from direct contact with nature and participation in daily rural activities – was crucial for the development of his later art.

Even back then, Chełmoński had already been a phenomenal observer, able to memorize even the most fleeting of  impressions – a skill that would later enable him to “produce a whole picture from memory,” according to fellow artists.

Chełmoński’s life and artistic path can be divided into several periods: as a young man, he pursued art education in Warsaw and Munich, followed by more than a decade in Paris, and then twenty-five years of creative work after returning to Poland.

Settling in Kuklówka after twelve years in Paris was the artist’s conscious escape from the hustle and bustle of city life and the all-pervading convention, from the destructive – in his view – power of modern civilization.

It was then that Chełmoński rediscovered the charm of his native land and found an emotional bond with nature. Landscape became the main theme of his works – both local views from Masovia and those observed during his journeys to Polesia, Lithuania and Ukraine.

Chełmoński was not interested in nature subjugated by humans, who shaped it for their own needs, but in the untameable natura naturans, endowed with creative power.

This can be seen in compositions such as Landscape: Motif from Białowieża or Wilderness: Forest Windfalls.

The old trees depicted there, knocked down by the wind, die – only to become a source of life for the young plants that grow upon them: strong, possessive, climbing toward the light.

Compositions with birds in their natural habitat, depicted from up close, as if from ground level, faithfully recreate the richness and diversity of plants and impress with their perfect representation of the typical features of individual bird species.

These landscapes are characterized by a free, broad manner of applying paint, as a result of which details irrelevant to extracting the expressive qualities of the painting disappear.

In Chełmoński’s interpretation, the Masovian landscape undergoes transformations and seems to continually reconstitute itself – while the Ukrainian landscape seems to exist constantly as if outside the category of time. 

Those elements are seen “against the light,” with the sky glowing with gold, pink or red, often “multiplied” by its reflection in water.

Atmospheric landscapes, often depicted at dusk or at night, became one of Chełmoński’s specialties. His winter nocturnes are particularly evocative, with the artist skilfully conveying the ambience of a frosty, cloudless night over an endless steppe.

Chełmoński’s mature works are dominated by landscape studies and only rarely depict humans, burdened with the baggage of their daily affairs and duties.

Chełmoński’s landscapes, always emotionally charged, began to show a tone of spiritualism.  A field cross – a sacred symbol of Salvation in the Christian tradition – can be read as a “projection” of the artist’s feelings.