Objects

"There are many things in my paintings that I cannot explain, "said Franciszka Themerson. "I really cannot think of anything that I could put into words. […] Because this is the syntax of the language of my paintings". (F. Themerson, "Obrazy bi-abstrakcyjne", in: "Themersonowie i awangarda", Łódź 2013, p. 136).

So let us not try to explain who this strange creature from her 1978 drawing is (and whether it exists at all), an ironically dangerous and caricaturally unreal animal-man with a head or a mouth, walking on all four legs. Instead, let us look at the "syntax of the language" of this work – its restrained expression, lines drawn with strong black line and humorous mocking figuration. And perhaps we will agree with the critic's opinion that "Actually, all this activity on canvas, paper, on the levels of theatrical horizons or in costumes, or in books was chasing down traces of life, human, love and betrayal – the truth about us that is still slipping away"(D. Wróblewska, "Kiedy ćwierć wieku temu…", in: "Franciszka Themerson. Białe obrazy", Warszawa 1998, p. 3).

See also other drawings by Franciszka Themerson in the POLIN Museum collection: MPOLIN-M159, MPOLIN-M163, MPOLIN-M169.

A gift of Ewa Kuryluk.

Renata Piątkowska