Olga Boznańska (1865 Krakow - 1940 Paris), Portrait of Angel Sommaruga, circa 1930.

oil, cardboard, 82 × 54 cm
signed p. g. in pencil: "Olga Boznańska"

Provenance:
- Italy, collection of Angelo Sommaruga
- Collection of Maria Caputo Sommaruga (daughter of Angelo)
- Paris, 2002 - Galerie Marek
- deposit of the Museum of the City of Lodz
- collection of Maciej Musiał
- Polswiss Art Auction House, auction 12.12.2017, item 30.
- Poland, private collection

Exhibited:
- National Museum in Warsaw, Warsaw, "Olga Boznańska," February 25-May 2, 2015.
- National Museum in Krakow, Krakow, "Olga Boznańska," October 25, 2014 - February 1, 2015.
Reproduced:
- A. Król, "Boznańska unknown," Turleja Foundation, 2005, p. 201.
- B. Ilkosz, "Records of Changes. Polish art from the collection of Krzysztof Musiał", National Museum in Wrocław, Wrocław 2008, p. 88.
- Bobrowska E., Kozakowska-Zaucha U., "Olga Boznańska," National Museum in Krakow, Krakow 2014, p. 258.
- "Olga Boznańska," National Museum in Warsaw, Warsaw 2015, p. 228.

"What did I paint in those years in Paris? The same as today. First of all, portraits. A living person is always more interesting to me than all those combined books and decanters."
Olga Boznanska, quoted in Junius, "At Olga Boznanska's in Paris," in Tygodnik Ilustrowany 1938, No. 42, p. 806.

"Man interests her above all. The portrait-psychologist is attracted not only by the externality of the person in question, but also by his interiority, which she brings to the light of the picture with the help of her eyes. The face often dissolves in non-condensed lines, paint soaks into the soft background of the cardboard, only the isolated dark, meaningful patches of eyes speak for the whole. In order for them to reign, Boznańska subdues the color of her dress, the shine of her hair willingly hides under her hat. Are her portraits similar to the originals? Certainly by some one, just for the artist perceptible hook, by the way, today it is not a matter of strict rendering, with the development of photography as it is today, even the greatest realist can not be tempted to do so. On the other hand, in the way the model is reflected, we look for spiritual and sometimes physical affinity with the creator."
A. Wyleżyńska, "Olga Boznańska," in Ivy 1934, no. 20, pp. 603-604

Angelo Sommaruga (1857 Milan - 1941 there) Italian publisher, journalist and art dealer, founded the progressive and anti-clerical daily "La Farfalla" in Cagliari in 1876. He then moved to Bologna, then to Rome, where between 1881 and 1885, thanks to his publishing activities, more than 130 works by authors as innovative as Gabriel d'Annunzio, Giosue Carducci and Edmund de Amicis were published. In 1885, he fled Italy for Buenos Aires in the wake of the scandal surrounding the journal Le Forche Caudine. In Argentina, he took up the art trade, which he also carried out in the United States. One of the objects of his activity was the popularization of the works of the Italian Impressionists, the so-called Macchiaioli. After returning to Europe and settling in Paris, he continued to practice his profession as a art dealer, while creating his own collection, which included works by Frenchmen as well as Americans, such as George Oberteuffer (1878-1940), and Poles active in Paris at the time, including Olga Boznańska and Eugeniusz Zak. The collection was inherited by his daughter, Maria Caputo. (compiled by. - Bobrowska E., Kozakowska-Zaucha U., "Olga Boznańska," National Museum in Krakow, Krakow 2014, p. 258.)