Tadeusz Styka (1889 Kielce-1954 New York), Lady with pearls

oil, canvas, 107 × 76 cm
Signed l. d.: TADÉ. STYKA
Coming from a family with painting traditions, Tadeusz Styka became famous as an outstanding portraitist, both in Europe and in the United States. His portrait gallery included images of well-known personalities from the world of politics, culture (such as: Pola Negri, Ignacy Paderewski, Maurice Maeterlinck, Wladyslaw Anders, Leo Tolstoy). In 1934, an exhibition of paintings by brothers Tadeusz and Adam Styka was held in the Zlota Sala at the Grand Hotel in Lodz. This is what a critic wrote about Tadeusz's works: "Tadeusz Styka knows how to perceive the beauty of the things he sees. He perceives them above all ... in a woman. He is a painter par exellance of female portraits and as such has already made a name for himself on the foreign
painting market - a well-deserved brand. [...] His type is a subtle blonde with slender lines, refined and noble in her northern beauty [...] he is an exquisite painter of subtle French marquises, sprightly English aristocrats and whimsical New York salon lionesses. [...] Subtlety of drawing. an almost pastel softness and delicacy in grasping the subject - this is what brings Tadeusz Styke close to the models he paints - this is what predestines him to be a painter of salon madonnas. ("Republic," No. 120, May 3, 1934, p. 6).