2025-04-03
The Warsaw Police Station detained a painting by Edward Okun a few days ago and prevented it from being auctioned at one of Warsaw's auction houses. The work was lost during the war, which is puzzling, the painting was bought in 2006 at an auction in Poland and has been shown in at least two exhibitions.
Edward Okuń (1872-1945) was a Polish painter, draughtsman and illustrator, one of the most prominent representatives of the Symbolist, Secessionist trend in Polish art. Throughout his career, he created many wonderful portraits, often playing with various conventions. He painted typical salon compositions, dressed his models in various costumes and also invented symbolic images.
The frozen picture is framed in a beautiful architectural frame, the representation refers to the most exquisite Italian Renaissance portraits against the landscape background. In 1910, Edward Okuń decided to portray Computta Donzella, an Italian poet from the end of the 13th century, the first woman to write in the Italian language. The work was given the customary name "Florentine". The painter's wife, Zofia of the Tolkemites Okuniowa, most probably served as a model.
The "Florentine" was stolen 78 years ago from a Warsaw art gallery. Since then, the painting has been listed as lost. The work has been secured by employees of the National Museum in Warsaw and transported there, where it will be kept until the investigation is completed. The only question is why no one intervened in 2006, when the portrait was exhibited and sold at auction in a major Polish auction house.