Title: Farewell
Ownership: Muzeum Regionalne w Stalowej Woli
Inventory number: MRS/S/129
Section: Sztuka
Date of creation: 1907
Type: drawing
Creator / Label: Karpiński Alfons (1875-1961)
Place of origin:
Material: paper, pencil
Technique: sketch drawing
Dimensions: 21 cm x 16,9 cm
Description: The artist spent the years 1907–1912 in Paris (with breaks during the winters), involved in very intensive work, looking for a visual language of his own. During that time he created a number of outstanding works, such as the painting Jane with a Japanese Doll (National Museum in Kraków).
The drawing reproduced here is traditionally believed to be a sketch for the painting Farewell, for which the model Jane probably posed. The pictorial composition, the art-nouveau lines that build up its form, resemble the painting held in the Kraków museum.
The Desa Unicum auction of 14 June 2012 saw the sale of the painting entitled Hania with a Dog (oil on canvas, 87 × 72 cm, private collection), based on the sketch shown here. The work was doubtlessly created in Paris, as we recognize the artist’s studio with its characteristic props: the fireplace and the mirror. The wicker chair features in several other paintings by Karpiński, notably Jane with a Japanese Doll from 1909 (oil on canvas, National Museum in Kraków) and Female Nude from 1911 (oil on canvas, Mazovian Museum in Płock), as well as in his portrait of Bronisława Kumaniecka (gouache and watercolour on paper, private collection).