DOI Heft:
Nr. 2-3
DOI Artikel:Ławniczakowa, Agnieszka: In the Mirror of a Well: On Jacek Malczewski's self-portraits
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18904#0051
6. Jacek Malczewski, Prophethy of Ezekiel (central part of a triptych), 1917—18, private
collection (Photo. Poznań, Muzeum Narodowe)
Yet objects of this type — states of affuirs equally uriyielding to representation but situated
beyond rather than within the domain of mental experience — cannot be constituted, without
focus on non-symbolic contents, througb paintings that would not appear somewhat disturbing
because of the incomplete correspondence between the situation represented and our sense of
reality. This type of anxiety is very often promptcd by the overemphasised elements in a paiuted
composition, the peculiarity of lines, colours, light or spatial relations, the co-existence in a single
painting of yarious painting styles, and upset functional relations between real objects, or
combinations of tliese and imaginary ones16.
Because of our knowledge of artistic coiwentions, relations of this type almost automatically
affect our interpretative attitude in our search for hidden meanings1'. Concepts of Symbolism
that see symbolist manifestations either in the expression or asccrtainment of mental states will
be left out of account, and we shall focus on works whose symbolic content is characterised
Representations in the Fine Arts) in: Sztuka ukuło 1900, <>p. cif., pp. 205, 208, and, id. „Z problematyki twórczości Jacka
Malczewskiego" (F roni the Problenis of Jacek Malczewski^ Qeuvre), in monograpliic exhibition cal.., Po/imn, Wu/eum
Narodowe, 1968, pp. 46. The view was developed includiug research results of other authors espeeially in: Malczewski
(exh. cat.), Stuttgart, Kieł, Duisburg, 1980, and, to a smaller degree also in Symbolism ih Polish Painting 1890—1914
(exh, cat.), the Detroit Institute of Arts, 1984. The standpoint presented here differs from those presented by other resear-
ehers in that it underlines the subjective, not the structuralist aspect of the interpretation of a symbol.
16. A. Ławniczakowa, Próba klasyfikacji przedstawień symbolicznych tv dzieluch sztuk plastycznych, op. cit., pp. 193—200.
17. This type of symbolisation fits in with the coneept of Symbolism of the lale 19th century though probably does not exhaust
it. As evidenced by studies initiated by A. Warburg and E. Panofsky, and in Poland by J. Białostocki, contemporary art
history seeks symbolic meanings also in paintings, in wbieb all the delails of the represented layer coincide with our empirical
knowledge of the world.
41
collection (Photo. Poznań, Muzeum Narodowe)
Yet objects of this type — states of affuirs equally uriyielding to representation but situated
beyond rather than within the domain of mental experience — cannot be constituted, without
focus on non-symbolic contents, througb paintings that would not appear somewhat disturbing
because of the incomplete correspondence between the situation represented and our sense of
reality. This type of anxiety is very often promptcd by the overemphasised elements in a paiuted
composition, the peculiarity of lines, colours, light or spatial relations, the co-existence in a single
painting of yarious painting styles, and upset functional relations between real objects, or
combinations of tliese and imaginary ones16.
Because of our knowledge of artistic coiwentions, relations of this type almost automatically
affect our interpretative attitude in our search for hidden meanings1'. Concepts of Symbolism
that see symbolist manifestations either in the expression or asccrtainment of mental states will
be left out of account, and we shall focus on works whose symbolic content is characterised
Representations in the Fine Arts) in: Sztuka ukuło 1900, <>p. cif., pp. 205, 208, and, id. „Z problematyki twórczości Jacka
Malczewskiego" (F roni the Problenis of Jacek Malczewski^ Qeuvre), in monograpliic exhibition cal.., Po/imn, Wu/eum
Narodowe, 1968, pp. 46. The view was developed includiug research results of other authors espeeially in: Malczewski
(exh. cat.), Stuttgart, Kieł, Duisburg, 1980, and, to a smaller degree also in Symbolism ih Polish Painting 1890—1914
(exh, cat.), the Detroit Institute of Arts, 1984. The standpoint presented here differs from those presented by other resear-
ehers in that it underlines the subjective, not the structuralist aspect of the interpretation of a symbol.
16. A. Ławniczakowa, Próba klasyfikacji przedstawień symbolicznych tv dzieluch sztuk plastycznych, op. cit., pp. 193—200.
17. This type of symbolisation fits in with the coneept of Symbolism of the lale 19th century though probably does not exhaust
it. As evidenced by studies initiated by A. Warburg and E. Panofsky, and in Poland by J. Białostocki, contemporary art
history seeks symbolic meanings also in paintings, in wbieb all the delails of the represented layer coincide with our empirical
knowledge of the world.
41