Objects

A small drummer dressed in a heavy coat flowing almost to the ground, tied with a belt with a snare drum and sticks attached to it. In the portrait of a boy soldier, strongly associated with the Romantic ethos of a child fighting (and often dying) for his homeland, the artist showed a contrast between a huge, oversized coat and the cavalier attitude of a small soldier with his hands in his pockets. | The sketch for this portrait was made in the vicinity of the winter quarters of the Legions' Headquarters, which was located in the most magnificent military settlement erected behind the front line, called Legionowo, situated four kilometres west of Wolczecko. The settlement had been under construction since mid-November 1915. The work "Little Drummer", like another lithograph from the Legion's portfolio "The Report", or a drawing depicting "Two Sleeping Children with a Rifle and The Soldier's Belt at their Headboard" (National Museum in Kraków), testify to the artist's interest in finding visual and emotional expression for the interaction of the spheres of childhood and war. | AT