Frenzy of Exultations

Created in 1893, *Frenzy of Exultations* is an oil painting on canvas measuring 310 cm in height and 275 cm in width. The work employs a narrow color palette dominated by blacks, browns, and grays, which contrast sharply with areas of white and yellow. This limited range enhances the polarized tension between light and shadow, a technique that intensified during the final execution compared to earlier preparatory sketches. The composition features a nude, red-headed woman clasping a frenetic black horse, with the upper left corner illuminated to highlight the figures while the right side recedes into whirled darkness. The artist utilized academic preparatory methods, including charcoal studies and oil sketches that varied in color schemes from ultramarine to green and orange, before achieving the final dynamic contrast between golden and black tones.

Frenzy of Exultations was conceived during Władysław Podkowiński’s stay in Paris in 1889, with preparatory oil sketches and charcoal studies executed in the second half of 1893.

The painting was completed in Warsaw between 1893 and 1894 after an extended period of work, during which the artist, already terminally ill, reportedly painted from his bed. It was first exhibited at Warsaw’s Zachęta gallery on 18 March 1894, where it drew approximately 12,000 visitors and generated around 350 rubles for the institution. Despite public interest, Podkowiński refused an offer of 3,000 rubles and set his asking price at 10,000 rubles. On 23 April 1894, he slashed the canvas with a knife before the exhibition closed.

After his death, the work was restored by Witold Urbański and toured to Łódź, Kraków, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg. It was purchased by Feliks Jasieński in 1901 for 1,000 rubles and donated to the National Museum in Kraków in 1904, where it remains in the Sukiennice Museum.

Frenzy of Exultations is held in the collection of the National Museum in Kraków, specifically displayed at the Sukiennice Museum. The work entered the museum's holdings in 1904 as a donation from Feliks Jasieński, who had purchased the restored canvas three years earlier for 1,000 rubles.

Following its restoration by Witold Urbański after the artist slashed it in 1894, the painting toured several cities. It was exhibited in Łódź, Kraków, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg prior to its acquisition by Jasieński. The work originally debuted at the Zachęta exhibition in Warsaw on March 18, 1894, where it remained on view until Podkowiński damaged it roughly five weeks later.

The painting Frenzy of Exultations by Władysław Podkowiński is recognized as the first Polish Symbolist work, created during the country's partition era between Russia, Germany, and Austria. It depicts a nude red-haired woman riding a frenzied black horse, described in contemporary accounts as conveying erotic ecstasy as a cosmic force, reflecting the psychological currents of the time. Podkowiński developed the composition through academic preparatory sketches in 1893, evolving from ultramarine and green tones to intense orange, before finalizing a dramatic contrast of light and shadow. The work was first exhibited at the Zachęta exhibition on 18 March 1894, drawing approximately 12,000 visitors and generating 350 rubles, though Podkowiński rejected a 3,000 ruble offer and sought 10,000. On 23 April 1894, he slashed the canvas shortly before the exhibition closed, an act that contributed to speculation about unrequited love, possibly involving Ewa Kotarbińska. After his death, the painting was restored by Witold Urbański and acquired by Feliks Jasieński in 1901 for 1,000 rubles, later donated to the National Museum in Kraków in 1904.

The painting became a landmark in Polish Symbolism and is widely regarded as the first major Symbolist work produced in partitioned Poland. Its dramatic imagery of erotic ecstasy and the frenzied horse influenced later Polish modernists and helped shape the visual language of erotic symbolism in early 20th-century art. After Podkowiński’s death the canvas was restored by Witold Urbański and circulated in exhibitions across Łódź, Moscow and Saint Petersburg before being acquired by Feliks Jasieński and gifted to the National Museum in Kraków in 1904, where it remains on display. The work’s scandalous reception, including the artist’s knife attack on the canvas in 1894, contributed to its mythic status and enduring reputation as a bold statement of passion and artistic defiance.