Biography:
Stanisław Górski (born January 15, 1887 in Kościan, died March 16, 1955 in Kraków) - Polish portrait painter.
Son of Władysław and Jadwiga née Gronowicz, born in Kościan on January 15, 1887. After graduating from the Industrial School, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow in the studios of Józef Pankiewicz (in 1910-1914) and Teodor Axentowicz (in 1916-1917). He is known mainly for his pastel works depicting portrait studies of highlanders and highlander women, the most famous motif of which is the Highlander at Morskie Oko. Like his professor (T. Axentowicz), he willingly painted portrait "heads" - images of beautiful women, ladies from aristocratic circles and bourgeois salons. He also created oil paintings and watercolors. He exhibited, among others, at the Exhibition of Independents in Krakow (1926), at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poznań, Kalisz, Piotrków. After the war, he exhibited his works in 1950 and 1952 in Krakow. In the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw there is a painting entitled Study of a Hyrax. He died on March 16, 1955 in Kraków (buried at the Rakowice Cemetery).
Stanisław Górski's first great master, Józef Pankiewicz, who at the beginning of the 20th century was "fresh" after traveling to France (he made friends there with, among others, Bonnard and was influenced by the works of Cezanne), and who had already tried to native ground to transfer the principles of impressionism, did not have much influence on the young painter. Górski, however, clearly 'succumbed' to the work of his second master, Teodor Axentowicz, a renowned portraitist, painter of beautiful women and genre scenes showing the rituals and customs of the Hutsuls. From Axentowicz, Górski took over similar themes (his subject were Polish highlanders), a slightly similar style and manner, and even a technique of making pastel portraits. In this painting we see a clear influence and fascination with Axentowicz's work. Nevertheless, Górski has developed his own characteristic manner, style and compositions, which makes it impossible to confuse his paintings with those of another artist.
The countryside was a very common subject of Stanisław Górski's paintings, especially portraits of highlanders and beautiful highlander women against the background of the landscape. This is also the case here. In his characteristic composition, the artist showed a highlander with a pipe against the background of the Podhale landscape. This pastel is characterized by lightness of texture and delicacy of drawing a multi-colored pencil. You can see here the artist's great freedom and skill in portraying both the clothes and the face, taking into account the individual psychological characteristics of the portrayed character. You can also see many details, such as decorations on the hooks or decorative ornaments on the pipe.
The highlander almost never left his pipe. She accompanied him during work, travel and rest. The pipe accompanied mountain guides, builders, farmers, and even until the mid-20th century, after the death of a highlander, a pipe was placed in the coffin next to the ciupaga. The first mentions of brass pipes in Podhale appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. It is known from archival texts that pipes in Podhale were initially made in the village of Zubsuche, and later in Dzianisz, Ratułów and Olcza. From the Podhale factories, pipes reached the neighboring regions: Orava, Spiš and the Gorce villages. Pipes from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries were very intricately decorated with geometric, plant and zoomorphic ornaments.
The painting is behind glass. Dimensions: 33x50 cm. Dimensions including frame: 49x65 cm. Condition of the painting and frame: good. The back of the binding has cracks, but the cardboard on which the painting is painted is intact. On the back there is a sticker from the Kazimierz Wojciechowski Salon of Works of Art in Krakow with a description of the painting, number 6016 and the date of acceptance: "1930".
It should be emphasized that this pastel was painted before 1930. Stanisław Górski's pre-war work is very rare because almost all of his works burned down during the war.
