ink, pencil, paper, mounted work, 26x20 cm, signed lower left: WS74
Siemiątkowski’s style is characterized by lightness, a synthesis of forms, bold contours applied with ink or a pen, and subtle, pastel-like splashes of color. In the foreground, the artist has placed three men in traditional costumes and headwear, whose facial expressions and poses convey a strong emotional charge. In the background, a dynamic crowd of people at a rural or small-town market is depicted with simpler, more simplified lines.
Wacław Siemiątkowski (1896–1977) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw beginning in 1916 under Professors Kotarbiński and Trojanowski, among others. He worked in mural painting, printmaking (linocut, lithography), and commercial art—including posters, illustrations, and postage stamp designs. He exhibited, among other places, at the Zachęta in Warsaw in 1936. From 1936 until the outbreak of the war, he worked as a graphic artist in Lviv; after the war, he lived in Otrębusy near Warsaw.
