Henryk Siemiradzki

S.Lewandowski, Henryk Siemiradzki, Warsaw: Gebethner & Wolff, 1904, p.37 illustrated in b/w

Structural Condition The artist's canvas has been laid onto a board with an additional thin wooden strainer attached to the reverse of the board. The wooden strainer is partly detached from the board support. Paint Surface The paint surface has a relatively even varnish layer. There are very small scattered paint losses, including within the landscape in the upper right quadrant of the composition, the steps of the fountain, and the sky. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows scattered retouchings, including: 1) an area of retouching covering thin diagonal lines of paint loss in the upper right of the sky, and some further small retouchings within the sky including an area in the upper left, 2) scattered retouchings within the stone steps in the foreground, and some further retouchings above the lower horizontal framing edge including within the water, and 3) small spots and lines of retouching within the figures and the goats. Other very small scattered retouchings are also visible. It should be noted many of these retouchings appear crude and excessive, are visible in natural light, and could be considerably reduced with more careful inpainting. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in reasonably good condition and would benefit from cleaning, restoration and revarnishing including the removal and careful replacement of any previous restoration work, and from reattaching the wooden strainer to reverse of the board.
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The present lot is a prime example of Siemiradzki's mature work. The composition is precisely arranged, careful attention is paid to the effects of light and shadow and the palette is particularly refined. In the 1880s and 1890s, subjects from history or everyday scenes of life in ancient Greece and Rome prevail in the artist’s work. This insight into the mythology, history and daily life of these ancient civilisations and the attempt to recreate a Classical image of the world gives rise to a new school of Neo-classicist art – the Neo-Grec.

In these works the ancient world is presented through multi-figured showy spectacles, bloody dramas and intimate idylls, as in the present lot. The end of the 1880s and 1890s was a time when Siemiradzki reigned supreme; he was a constant and a linchpin of the Salon’s exhibitions. During this period his subjects became more intimate and lyrical, but simultaneously his theatrical tendencies come to the fore. This can be explained in no small part by the general developments of European art at the turn of the century.

Siemiradzki depicts the young couple utterly absorbed in their conversation and in each other, which he echoes in the poses of the goats on the right of the composition and the delicate red flowers which tumble around the decorative pool draws in the eye of the viewer with their vivid colour and freshness. In its unabashed celebration of youth and beauty, the present lot is an exceptional example of its genre.