DOI Artikel:
Danielewicz, Iwona: The Collection of Gabriela Zapolska
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18947#0123
enthusiast of Nabi art. In three July issues of Przegląd Tygodniowy in that year,
her “Letter IV” appeared in her series “Parisian Letters”, devoted to the latest
art. An extensive portion entitled “New Directions in Art: Impressionism,
Pointilism and Symbolism” was probably the first deep, penetrating, and
enthusiastic texts devoted to the symbolism of the Post-Impressionists that had
yet appeared in the Polish lands.12 Conscious of the importance of this
publication, and at the same time certain of its polemic character, wrote the
following in a letter of June 22, 1894 to Wiślicki: “I have written by myself,
without help, a ‘Letter’ about the new trends in painting. Please print it without
changes, Sir; if it elicits polemic, I am prepared to conduct it.”1’ The author
explained the genesis of Impressionist painting, stressing the role and significance
of Manet for modern art, mentioning also Monet and Renoir. For the first time
the Polish public read about the pointillists, Henry’s theory of colour, and
Seurat. She brought profound analysis to works by artists such as van Gogh
and Gauguin, unknown in Poland and still poorly known in France, explaining
their symbolic subtext. “Thus he wasn’t literary” she wrote about Van Gogh,
“because he didn’t want to present an object with the help of models,
accessories and the sort of thing which normal artists use; instead he took the
objects on the surface which do not have any connection with the action in
which individuals maintain the main role, and the landscape is a decoration,
and with these objects he created a symbol, which was the manifestation of
a process which dwelt in the depth of his soul at the thought of Christ’s
suffering.”14 15 16 17
Symbolism in the understanding of the Post-Impressionists could be
explained thus: “The symbol in colloąuial speech conveys an allegory and
a sign, not differentiating between them. Meanwhile the symbol is a synthesis
of the soul of the artists and the soul of naturę [...]” 5 Zapolska most certainly
knew Jean Moreas’s famous article “Symbolism”, considered a programmatic
pronouncement and similar to the two artistic manifestos of the young Aurier
about Gauguin and the symbolists, which appeared in 1891 in Mercnre de
France and a year later in Revue Encyclopediąue.16 The writer, who circulated
in the environment of the Theatre Librę and the Theatre de l’Oeuvre (for
which artists such as Serusier, Ranson, Bonnard, and Vuillard created
decorations), knew the works of Stephane Mallarme and Maurice Maeterlinck
(in 1895 she appeared in the latter’s one-act play Interior), Verlaine, Laforgue,
and the sophisticated prose of Francis Poicteyin.1, In the beginning of 1895
she began working with Revue Blanche and as she herself wrote: “Revue
Blanche, the most distinguished of all ‘Revues’, the most artistic and the most
12 Publicystyka, op. cit., II, pp. 297-311.
13 Ibid., p. 467.
14 Ibid., p. 301.
15 Ibid., p. 303.
16 J. Moreas, “Le symbołisme”, Le Figaro, September 1886; A. Aurier, “Le symbolisme en peinture
- Paul Gauguin”, Mercure de France, February 1891, as well as “Beaux-Arts. Les Symbolistes”, La
Revue Encyclopediąue, April 1892. Cf. Grabska, op. cit., pp. 263—276 and 352-367.
17 Publicystyka, op. cit, II, p. 379.
117
her “Letter IV” appeared in her series “Parisian Letters”, devoted to the latest
art. An extensive portion entitled “New Directions in Art: Impressionism,
Pointilism and Symbolism” was probably the first deep, penetrating, and
enthusiastic texts devoted to the symbolism of the Post-Impressionists that had
yet appeared in the Polish lands.12 Conscious of the importance of this
publication, and at the same time certain of its polemic character, wrote the
following in a letter of June 22, 1894 to Wiślicki: “I have written by myself,
without help, a ‘Letter’ about the new trends in painting. Please print it without
changes, Sir; if it elicits polemic, I am prepared to conduct it.”1’ The author
explained the genesis of Impressionist painting, stressing the role and significance
of Manet for modern art, mentioning also Monet and Renoir. For the first time
the Polish public read about the pointillists, Henry’s theory of colour, and
Seurat. She brought profound analysis to works by artists such as van Gogh
and Gauguin, unknown in Poland and still poorly known in France, explaining
their symbolic subtext. “Thus he wasn’t literary” she wrote about Van Gogh,
“because he didn’t want to present an object with the help of models,
accessories and the sort of thing which normal artists use; instead he took the
objects on the surface which do not have any connection with the action in
which individuals maintain the main role, and the landscape is a decoration,
and with these objects he created a symbol, which was the manifestation of
a process which dwelt in the depth of his soul at the thought of Christ’s
suffering.”14 15 16 17
Symbolism in the understanding of the Post-Impressionists could be
explained thus: “The symbol in colloąuial speech conveys an allegory and
a sign, not differentiating between them. Meanwhile the symbol is a synthesis
of the soul of the artists and the soul of naturę [...]” 5 Zapolska most certainly
knew Jean Moreas’s famous article “Symbolism”, considered a programmatic
pronouncement and similar to the two artistic manifestos of the young Aurier
about Gauguin and the symbolists, which appeared in 1891 in Mercnre de
France and a year later in Revue Encyclopediąue.16 The writer, who circulated
in the environment of the Theatre Librę and the Theatre de l’Oeuvre (for
which artists such as Serusier, Ranson, Bonnard, and Vuillard created
decorations), knew the works of Stephane Mallarme and Maurice Maeterlinck
(in 1895 she appeared in the latter’s one-act play Interior), Verlaine, Laforgue,
and the sophisticated prose of Francis Poicteyin.1, In the beginning of 1895
she began working with Revue Blanche and as she herself wrote: “Revue
Blanche, the most distinguished of all ‘Revues’, the most artistic and the most
12 Publicystyka, op. cit., II, pp. 297-311.
13 Ibid., p. 467.
14 Ibid., p. 301.
15 Ibid., p. 303.
16 J. Moreas, “Le symbołisme”, Le Figaro, September 1886; A. Aurier, “Le symbolisme en peinture
- Paul Gauguin”, Mercure de France, February 1891, as well as “Beaux-Arts. Les Symbolistes”, La
Revue Encyclopediąue, April 1892. Cf. Grabska, op. cit., pp. 263—276 and 352-367.
17 Publicystyka, op. cit, II, p. 379.
117