On the Rocky Podhale

Tatra Mountains in the Works of Young Poland Artists: Jan Stanisławski and Leon Wyczółkowski

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Tatra Mountains in the winter (1891) by Jan StanisławskiThe National Museum in Krakow

It is not known whether these artists knew Karol Szymanowski. Stanisławski died in 1907, Wyczółkowski visited the Tatra region up to 1926, so they might have met. 

Their works illustrate not only Szymanowski’s music and Przerwa-Tetmajer’s poetry, they also make us aware of the significance of the Tatras for the whole Polish art of the time.

Clouds – Zakopane (1904) by Jan StanisławskiThe National Museum in Krakow

Fashion for Zakopane

The last quarter of the 19th century and the period before the outbreak of World War I was a time of fashion for Zakopane, it became a meeting place of artists, musicians, politicians, writers, philosophers and scholars...

Portrait of Wife, Józef Mehoffer, 1904, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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A Game of Croquet, Leon Wyczółkowski, 1895, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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Karol Szymanowski, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, 1931, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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... not only those from the three partitions but also those coming from exile. The Tatra Mountains, towering over Zakopane, were the centre of attention, acquiring a mystical and symbolic dimension both in art and literature. 

To quote the chronicler of the day Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, The Tatras, eulogised by Goszczyński, discovered by Chałubiński, made more familiar by Witkiewicz and his 'Na przełęczy' ('On the Mountain Pass'), described in Asnyk’s impeccable strophes, did not achieve their full poetical effectiveness until the Young Poland era.

The Czarny Staw Tarn – Blizzard (1892) by Stanisław WitkiewiczThe National Museum in Krakow

Tatras and poetry

The works of Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer played a huge role in Tatra literature. Like an Impressionist painter, he was able to capture a fleeting impression, the transience and changeability of nature in his poems.

To quote him, They are looking at me unchanging, always the same cold and sad – and always faithful. I love them. They have taught me to think and feel, rhyme and colour words, and they  give me dreams, they put sticky fingers on my eyes and close my lids, then bend my head backwards, touch my lips with a finger and whisper: be quiet. Then I can see the life of the powers and elements of nature. (…) My soul escapes towards these powers and elements of nature which experienced the tragedy of physical existence.

Monk at Morskie Oko (1904) by Leon WyczółkowskiThe National Museum in Krakow

Leon Wyczółkowski (1852–1936)

Wyczółkowski arrived in Zakopane for the first time in 1896. From then on, almost once a year – until 1926 – he visited Zakopane almost every year, and the inaccessible Tatra ridges, screes and tarns reflecting the mountains began to prevail in his art. 

Czarny Staw ("Impressions from the Tatra Mountains"), Leon Wyczółkowski, 1905, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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Black Pond by Morskie Oko, Leon Wyczółkowski, 1904, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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The years 1904–1906 culminated in the most famous pastel portraits of the Tatra Mountains: Monk at the Sea Eye, At the Gates of Chałubiński, Black Lake - synthetic in form, sparing in color, but thus true and poignant.

Forest in the winter, Leon Wyczółkowski, 1905/1906, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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Forest - proof print, Leon Wyczółkowski, 1905/1906, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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Black Pond from the Morskie Oko side, Leon Wyczółkowski, 1905/1906, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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From 1906 dates a portfolio entitled "Tatry. Ósm akwatint" (The Tatras. Eight Aquatints), consisting of mountain views almost abstract in form, monochromatic in colour and exceptionally true in mood. In 1914, Wyczółkowski made illustrations, similar in mood, for the jubilee edition of Tetmajer’s Na Skalnym Podhalu.

Clouds – Zakopane (1904) by Jan StanisławskiThe National Museum in Krakow

Jan Stanisławski (1860–1907)

Stanisławski and his students came to Zakopane for the first time in 1902, and it was then when views of the Tatra Mountains became part of the painting programme of Young Poland. 

To the Zakopane countryside ‘the capers’, as the master and his disciples were called, went singing all the time, proud of being the chosen ones from the Academy (...). The master would visit them every few days. They spent the first day stretching canvases and priming them as well as looking for motifs, and then young painters went in different directions, like a flock of sheep. A line of easels could be seen along the stream. They would paint from breakfast to lunch and then in the evening, until dusk.

Zakopane in Winter, Jan Stanisławski, 1906, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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Sunset, Jan Stanisławski, 1904/1908, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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Spring Landscape, Jan Stanisławski, 1904, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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Jan Stanisławski was known for small, very quickly created paintings. In painting, he showed the changeability of light in nature.

Landscape (1890) by Jan StanisławskiThe National Museum in Krakow

Journeys to Zakopane were trips full of painting yields and cheering together. The artists spent time together working, singing, laughing and traveling.

Mullein, Jan Stanisławski, 1887, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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Moonrise, Jan Stanisławski, 1906, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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Rainbow, Jan Stanisławski, 1905, From the collection of: The National Museum in Krakow
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As one of his students recalls, Stanisławski wanted his students to love and understand nature. He instilled his burning enthusiasm in their souls, kindled their fascinations, demanded invincible honesty, energy and emotions in works, he eradicated any posturing, cheap tricks and empty words, without the slightest sobriety he shared his knowledge, his great artistic culture, demanding only enthusiasm, love for work, courage and creative joy in return.

Credits: Story

Text: Urszula Kozakowska-Zaucha, selection: Agata Jabłońska

Credits: All media
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