Objects

This, painted in 1965, watercolour portrait may be, as it is believed by the donor, Marek Szypulski, a self-portrait of the artist. However, let us examine this lyrical study as one of the painter’s works in which he would look for solance struggling with severe illness. In 1963, the artist’s works were presented in the Svea Galleriet in Stockholm, where the exhibition was a huge success, also commercially. This allowed for a trip to Paris, where Oberländer had a massive heart attack. Halina Oberländer recalled: "The first hospital – it was Boussicault, then St. Antoine, then the sanatorium in Dreux. And then we went to Nice. Marek’s state was so critical that the doctors did not have any hope, and so – as it is always said to the severely ill – he was told to go live in the South. Well, in Marek’s case it was a good idea. […] Marek loved Nice. I realise now, it was a representation of some of his longings, like, for example, he would always keep Odyssey by the bed. He liked the South, the blue sea, he was nostalgic for it... for Palestine?" (A. Wrońska, Rozmowa z Haliną Oberländer o Marku Oberländerze, in: Marek Oberländer. Wystawa malarstwa, Warszawa 1998, p. 13). The artist died in Nice in 1978; he is buried in the cemetery in Callian du Var.

Donated by Marek Szypulski

Renata Piątkowska