Julian Fałat (1853 Tuligłowy - 1929 Bystra), Praying Girl, 1905.

gouache, watercolor, pastel, cardboard, 42.5 × 38.5 cm
Signed and dated p. d.: "Jul Fałat/905"
On the reverse, a 1949 ruling by Dr. Kazimierz Buczkowski.

Exhibited:
- Last Nature You're Beautiful!, exhibition of paintings from a private collection, July-October 2020, District Museum in Rzeszów.

Reproduced:
- Dorota Rucka - Marmaj, "Last Nature You Are Beautiful! ", exhibition of paintings from a private collection, Exhibition catalog July - October 2020, Rzeszów 2020, p. 19 and on the cover of the catalog

"Julian Fałat was a friendly and open man, he easily established contacts [...] He did not shy away from making acquaintances with ordinary people, his distant and closer neighbors. Evidence of the artist's cordial relations and intimacy with individuals are the numerous portraits represented in his legacy. They vary in expression and form. The vast majority made in watercolor technique. Some of them are very official, others are documentary in nature. Sometimes they were painted as a souvenir of a meeting, in gratitude for some favor or help shown." (Julian Fałat - życiorys pędzlem malowany, ed. I. Purzycka, Bielsko-Biała 2017, p. 55) The portrayed themselves repeatedly expressed flattering opinions about Fałat's works. "I have just received both portraits and your gracious letter, both are of wonderful work, fully worthy of the Master, [...] under no circumstances will I let these paintings out of my hand, after all, I know how much effort and work they cost you, and I not only that I am completely satisfied, but also convey to you my heartfelt, warm thanks for his kindness and courtesy," Carl Bechstein wrote from Berlin. (Letter from C. Bechstein to J. Falat, July 13, 1892, MBB/H- -F/2228, transl. P. Kenig) The presented work by Julian Fałat depicts a woman framed in a semi-profile, immersed in reverie and spiritual introspection. The figure hides her face in her hands, leaving an understatement about her mood. Perhaps she is crying and with this gesture hides the tears running down her flushed cheeks. The green scarf covering her hair contrasts with the deep maroon and brown tones of her outfit. The background, kept in cool grays, provides a neutral space bringing out the silhouette and emotional expression of the composition. "It takes a master to be quite a master, from the seemingly chaotic jumble of spots and specks of various colors to bring out a human face that is alive, soulful, full of proper expression and temperamental distinctiveness." (Wiktor Gomulicki quoted in Julian Fałat, Stalowa Wola 2010, p. 130) "All of Julian Fałat's works are characterized above all by extraordinary power of expression and realistic truth, free, however, from any naturalistic exaggeration, from the desire to tease the imagination with the negative side of reality." (Henryk Struve, "Spikes", 1888)