2024-11-19
There is always beauty and elegance in the paintings of Alfons Karpiński. The painter was an excellent portraitist, particularly famous for his depictions of women. He also painted genre scenes and often still lives with flowers and with elements of porcelain tableware. At the December Old Art Auction, you will find an example of the latter.
The future painter was one of six children of a district judge. Between 1891 and 1899, he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków under the tutelage of, among others, Leon Wyczółkowski. The young student saw the value in learning the traditional portrait painting passed on to students by the master. Karpiński also gained his education abroad: at Anton Ažbé in Munich (1903) and at Kazimierz Pochwalski in Vienna, later also in Paris. In the first years of his artistic path, he depicted genre scenes and landscapes from Bronowice near Kraków. In Paris, however, he developed the art of the female portrait. His paintings exuded decorativeness and charm. In them, the artist used a muted colour range and incorporated elements from the style of Japanese woodcuts. The painter's still lives, on the other hand, evoke a mood of tranquillity. The magnificent aspects of the rooms and the various flowers are as if "behind a mist". The artist was fond of depicting roses, anemones, cyclamen or marsh marigolds. During the First World War, he served in the Austrian army. He lived permanently in Kraków and was associated with the local milieu centred around the "Green Balloon". After the Second World War, he belonged to the Warsaw "Zachęta" group, which was characterized by a traditionalist approach to art.
Marsh-marigolds were a motif painted relatively frequently by Karpiński. No wonder, the picturesque yellow flowers of this plant catch the eye. "Marsh-marigolds" painted in oil on cardboard measuring: 35 x 49 cm, will be available for bidding from 15 to 18 December this year. We warmly invite you to take part in the auction.
