Wladyslaw Podkowiński (1866 Warsaw - 1895 there), Billiards, ca. 1891.

watercolor, on pencil underdrawing, paper glued on cardboard, 34 x 27 cm
Signed l. d.: "W.Pod..." at bottom: "21"

On the back a paper sticker from Desa in Krakow with a typescript: "No. 47/42/I./ adopted 1.VI. 1953./Podkowiński: billiard./ Signature aqua./ Price 2000 zl./ Krakow. Store No. 1."

Provenance:
- Desa Kraków, accepted 1.06.1953
- private collection, Kraków

Władysław Podkowiński works on composition of painting from 1891 - "Ladies at Billiards" (other titles: "Ladies Playing Billiards," "Women at Billiards," "Women Playing Billiards," "At Billiards,") he began while still in Paris. This painting was to be presented at the Zachęta Salon. Unfortunately, this work, along with landscapes from Kazimierz by Pankiewicz, were rejected by the exhibition committee. Podkowiński's canvas, along with the others rejected by Zacheta, was presented at an exhibition at the Krywult Salon in February 1891. The event was widely echoed in the press. Many texts on Impressionism in Polish painting appeared, and the rejection of the composition itself was met with a wave of outrage and protests among critics. Podkowiński's painting itself received a very positive response. In his article titled "A New Work of Impressionism" in Artistic Review, Henryk Piatkowski wrote as follows: "The painting at first glance makes a very original impression - it is unlike anything known before. Podkowiński has already used his great technique to express the struggle between two lights: gas lamps and the darkness beginning to spread. This painting requires a long gaze; at first glance it is almost incomprehensible, but after some time, the effect of chiaroscuro comes to the fore - the figures round out the background, and above all, it is always dominated by Podkowiński's innate drawing skill, even in the smallest work. (...) In any case, one should see Podkowiński's new painting, one should gaze at it attentively, and certainly the general public will come away with the conviction that one is dealing with an artist who sincerely loves his art, with the courage to tread a new path." (H. Piatkowski, "Artistic Review", 1891, R.XXVI, No. 3, p. 36.) The mentioned painting, measuring 154 x 117 cm, is lost. It is known only from descriptions and from a drawing by Podkowiński himself, reproduced in 1891 in Artistic Review. The presented watercolor was a preparatory study for this famous composition.