Title: Yellow roses
Ownership: Muzeum Regionalne w Stalowej Woli
Inventory number: MRS/S/36
Section: Sztuka
Date of creation:
Type: painting
Creator / Label: Karpiński Alfons (1875-1961)
Place of origin: Polska, Kraków
Material: cardboard, oil paints
Technique: oil painting
Dimensions: 34 cm x 48 cm
Description: In addition to portraiture of women, still lifes where the other most important subject of Karpiński’s paintings, which the artist rendered in several varieties. He would usually depict a piece of the parlour interior with focus on a vase holding a bouquet of flowers – yellow, pink and white roses, peonies, chrysanthemums, or poppies – complemented with ceramics, a mirror, Japanese figurines, and paintings on the wall. He devoted special attention to flowers because they were an important, intriguing inspiration for him. He said in an interview given to Franciszek Klein:
When the spring comes, I buy armfuls of roses every couple of days; I just can’t do without them. They are a school of colour for me. I owe a lot to their subtle tones. No one would understand how many subtle hues and half-tones can be found in a single rose flower. Seemingly that is something that you don’t even see. It’s only when you begin to paint that you notice the width of the range of tones and half-tones that make up the rich dress of this royal flower. So it is with genuine passion and special care that I devote time to studies of flowers. And it is doubly important to me because the study of flowers is very helpful in portraying women. Because I never forget what a portrait of an elegant lady is. In addition to natural gracefulness and beauty, how much craft and care, how many whims and moods of fashion woman’s nature requires. (Franciszek Klein, ‘W pracowni Alfonsa Karpińskiego’, Czas, no. 40, 1928, p. 3)
Still lifes with yellow roses form the largest group within Alfons Karpiński’s painting oeuvre, possibly due to the fact that they became the primary source of sustenance for his family.
I began to paint flowers and interiors for myself but it turned out that people liked those pictures a lot and that saved me on many an occasion when material need raised its head. (A. Karpiński, Wspomnienia [Memories], p. 27)
They can be found in private and museum collections alike. To this day, they adorn the interiors of many Kraków homes. The collection of the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola also includes white roses in a Chinese vase (MRS/S/314) and anemones (MRS/S/318).
Their popularity is further demonstrated by the fact that, as early as the 1930s, a lot of fake Karpiński paintings of flowers were in circulation. He wrote in his memoir:
Forgeries of my work surfaced on the market; I spotted a few myself. I ascertained that Wojtowicz’s shop was selling such forgeries. I sued him and… I lost. The court ruled that the shop owner had no obligation to be an expert on the works of art that he offered for sale. (A. Karpiński, Wspomnienia [Memories], p. 29)

Bibliography
Małkiewicz, Barbara, Alfons Karpiński i jego koledzy, exh. cat., Muzeum Regionalne w Stalowej Woli, Stalowa Wola, 2000, no. 32.
– Bartoszek, Monika, Alfons Karpiński 1875–1961, exh. cat., Muzeum Okręgowe w Sandomierzu, Muzeum Regionalne w Stalowej Woli, Sandomierz, 2001, p. 86, no. 76, il.
– Szlązak, Anna (ed.), Alfons Karpiński (1875–1961). Katalog zbiorów Muzeum Regionalnego w Stalowej Woli, Stalowa Wola, 2009, p. 14, il. p. 15.
– Szczekala, Agnieszka, ‘Zjawisko fałszerstwa dzieł sztuki w ujęciu historycznym’, ineadem, Fałszerstwa dzieł sztuki. Zagadnienia prawnokarne, Warsaw, 2012, p. 65.

Exhibited:
– Stalowa Wola, 2000 – Alfons Karpiński and His Colleagues, Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola
– Sandomierz, 2001 – Alfons Karpiński 1875–1961 [monographic exhibition], District Museum in Sandomierz
– Stalowa Wola, 2002 – Alfons Karpiński 1875–1961 [monographic exhibition], Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola
– Kraków, 2002 – Alfons Karpiński. The Art of Young Poland Parlours, National Museum in Kraków
– Radom, 2002 – Alfons Karpiński: Paintings, Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom
– Szczecin, 2003 – Alfons Karpiński: Paintings, Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle in Szczecin
– Sopot, 2003 – Alfons Karpiński (1875–1961), State Gallery of Art in Sopot
– Olsztyn, 2003 – Alfons Karpiński: Paintings, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (BWA) in Olsztyn
– Bydgoszcz, 2003 – Alfons Karpiński, Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz
– Legnica, 2004 – Alfons Karpiński. Painter of Beautiful Women and Flowers, Museum of Copper in Legnica
– Stalowa Wola, 2009 – Alfons Karpiński. From the Collection of the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola