User:WojciechAndruszewski/sandbox

Historical background
In addition to painting, Edward Oku (1872–1945) also illustrated. Because of his aristocratic background and stable financial standing, he was able to devote himself entirely to art. He started taking painting classes as a teenager. He first studied at Wojciech Gerson's Warsaw drawing class before moving to Krakow to join the School of Fine Arts, where he was taught by Izydor Jaboski and Jan Matejko. He pursued his study further in Munich, Paris, and Hungary, where he attended the Simon Hollósa School. The painter spent more than 20 years in Italy starting in 1898. He started working on the picture "We and the War" there in 1917. (88 x 111 cm). the picture, which dates back to 1920, the painting, still unfinished at the time, saw the light of day at an exhibition at Warsaw's Zachęta Gallery. It functioned there under the title "War and Art". Okuń completed the work in 1923.

Description
Edward Oku painted his last self-portrait with his wife in the middle of the composition. The artist is wearing a long, black coat over which his wife Zofia is also strolling. The woman gives him an elegant glance, but the man is preoccupied with the white flower bouquet in his hands. Their upper petals are dyed a scarlet colour, which resembles blood. An old, toothless, gray witch who is slumped over and walks close by notices the flowers. The woman surrounds the couple with her entire body and tries to slip beneath the coat. Her bare feet stand in stark contrast to the refined style of the gleaming, polished shoes. The witch is most likely the personification of famine or war and does not leave the steam even for a step.

The sense of horror vacui (Latin: fear of emptiness) is intensified by the flat, ornamental background that occupies the entire surface of the painting. The dynamic composition is composed of Art Nouveau, winding lines. The background is purely decorative, with turquoise and sapphire, intertwined snakes with bared fangs biting each other. Fantastic reptiles in the painting received the wings of a moth, associated with death. Okuń used here a procedure used in symbolist painting, which consists in deforming the proportions between a man and other elements of the composition. The silhouettes of animals have been exaggerated by him, which emphasizes their expressiveness and intensifies the impression of horror.

Influence
As a result of his concern with childhood memories, nightmares, hallucinations, and psychotic episodes, Tanguy's symbolism is deeply personal. It defies straightforward interpretation and stirs up a variety of associations that appeal to the viewer's emotions and imagination.

Exibited
Młoda Polska, 2018-10-01 – 2018-12-31, Goteborg konstmuseum, Goteborg, Szwecj.

Na zmianę I, 2022-09-26 – 2022-09-16.

From Symbolism To Modern Art (1880 – 1939), 2007-09-24 – 2008-03-20, National Gallery of Ireland.

Śladem prerafaelitów. Artyści polscy i sztuka brytyjska, 2006-08-21 – 2006-11-25, Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie.

Sztuka Polska: Niezłomny duch., 2015-06-07 – 2015-08-20, Seul, Korea Południowa.

Spragnieni piękna, 2017-01-18-2017-03-12, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie.

Skarby z kraju Chopina, 2015-02-10-2015-05-10, Nationale Museum Chine, Pekinie.

Impressionism and Symbolism. Polisz Painting around 1900, 2009-04-16-2009-06-07, Narodowa Galerija, Puharjeva 9, 1001 Lublana, Słowenia.

Malarstwo polskie około 1900, 2011-06-23 – 2011-09-18, Bratysława]]