Pantaleon Szyndler
As it's our birthday week when we celebrate five years of our existence, it's time to present another piece chosen by our team. Meet Klaudia, who takes care or partnerships and sharing our texts everywhere she can on web. She is also our youngest employee; she is with us for nearly a year :)
Under this link you can meet also the rest of us and find out couple of facts about DailyArt. See you tomorrow!
Pantaleon Józef Szyndler (1846-1905) was a Polish painter, especially known for religious and Orientalist artworks and nudes.
His marvelous painting, Bathing Girl, is one of the best examples of Polish academic art. It was created in the time when artists were fascinated by the exotic Orient and were producing so many images of harems, Odalisques, Sultanas, Female Slaves, or Daughters of Persia. These scenes were mostly full of hidden eroticism and unfulfilled desire. In Bathing Girl, the artist originally painted the figure of a man looking at the naked slave from the dark background, but then decided to remove it.
It’s definitely one of my favorite artworks. Every time I visit the Gallery in Sukiennice, where the painting is hanging, I have to spend a few minutes in front of the piece. The great harmony of colors, skillful modulations of shades, and wonderful glaze application of paints all create a magnificent view that just hypnotizes me. We cannot see her face, so it makes the atmosphere of the scene even more mysterious. The fight between the lightness of the silky soft girl's body and the darkness of her surroundings emphasize how innocent this young girl is and how dangerous and unjust the world is to her. Is she scared? What is she thinking about? I try to imagine what she came through as a slave and what else awaits her. Does she have any hope for a better future?
So many questions are raised in our minds when we are looking at one single piece of art. And perhaps we will never find the right answers.
When you visit Cracow I strongly encourage you to go to the Gallery in Sukiennice and spend a few minutes in front of Bathing Girl and admire its beauty in the flesh.
- Klaudia Żelazowska