Objects

It is, presumably, a depiction of the "floating through the air" statue of Nike of Samothrace (on display in the Louvre), as can be judged by the characteristic features of this likeness: the absence of a head and forearm, the outline of a neck and the prominent large wing.

The vertical elements at the bottom of the work are perhaps candles, placed, for example, on a table (they cast a shadow on it).

The work undoubtedly belongs to the illustration project for the book "Ręka umarłej" (Hand of a Deceased), as indicated (in addition to the object's place of storage): the technique of execution, the painted frame or the muted, monochromatic tonality. However, it is difficult to attribute it to any of the works published in this volume. However, it must have been an illustration to one of Maria Zarębińska-Broniewska's short stories, to which the artist created works in paint on canvas, maintained in a homogeneous style. The motif of a figure that seems floating through air was found in the volume only in the illustration for Władysław Broniewski's poem "Ballad" (see MPOLIN-M1623, MPOLIN-M1624).

The outer edges of the painted frame are irregular because the artist did not have the need to ensure the closure of the outer elements of the composition; its plastic processing was to be handled by the publisher's graphic designers.

Przemysław Kaniecki