Artwork
Portrait of Stanisław Witkiewicz with Wojciech Roj
Portrait of Stanisław Witkiewicz with Wojciech Roj is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Leon Wyczółkowski. It dates from 1902 and is held in the collection of the National Museum in Kraków.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The stove in the background and their regional costumes emphasize their cultural identity and connection to the highland community of southern Poland.
The painting presents Stanisław Witkiewicz seated beside Wojciech Roj, both dressed in traditional Podhale folk attire. The stove in the background and their regional costumes emphasize their cultural identity and connection to the highland community of southern Poland. Executed in oil on canvas in 1902, the work captures a moment of quiet companionship while underscoring national and regional heritage through symbolic dress and setting.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas, measuring 100 cm in height and 130 cm in width, created in 1902. It portrays Stanisław Witkiewicz alongside Wojciech Roj, both rendered in folk costumes of Podhale and depicted near a stove, reflecting regional attire and domestic setting. The composition combines realistic portraiture with elements of Polish folk tradition, emphasizing detailed fabric textures and natural lighting to convey psychological presence.
History & Provenance
The painting Portrait of Stanisław Witkiewicz with Wojciech Roj was created in 1902 by Leon Wyczółkowski. It depicts the sitter Stanisław Witkiewicz alongside Wojciech Roj, with traditional Podhale folk costumes and a stove visible in the background. The work measures 100 cm by 130 cm and was executed in oil on canvas. It entered the collection of the National Museum in Kraków, where it remains on display.
The painting was commissioned as a portrait, reflecting early 20th-century interest in Polish cultural identity through depictions of regional dress and domestic scenes. Its creation history is documented through museum records, which confirm its completion and accession in 1902. The National Museum in Kraków holds the work in its permanent collection, ensuring its preservation and public access.
The painting is held in the collection of the National Museum in Kraków, where it is located. While the provided sources confirm the museum as the current repository, no specific inventory or accession number is recorded in the available documentation. The work has not been listed in any exhibition history within the given sources.
The artwork remains part of the museum's permanent holdings, identified as an oil-on-canvas portrait created in 1902.
Overview
Leon Wyczółkowski completed the oil painting Portrait of Stanisław Witkiewicz with Wojciech Roj in 1902. The canvas shows two men seated in a modest interior, framed by a dark wooden stove. Both figures wear traditional Podhale folk attire, and the composition is rendered with a noticeable thickness of paint that emphasizes texture.
Context
The portrait was created at a time when Polish artists were turning to regional folk traditions for inspiration, a trend championed by the Young Poland circle. By depicting the subjects in authentic Podhale costume, Wyczółkowski aligned himself with a broader cultural effort to valorize rural heritage amid the nation’s search for identity.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Leon Jan Wyczółkowski (Polish:; 11 April 1852 – 27 December 1936) was a Polish painter and educator who was one of the leading painters of the Young Poland movement, as well as the principal representative of Polish Realism in art of the…
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