Landscape with a Palace

Jacek Malczewski prints bring home the strange, dreamlike world of Poland's best-known Symbolist painter. Working in Kraków around 1900, Malczewski filled his canvases with chimeras, angels, a female figure of Death holding a scythe, and himself in armour or folk costume, all set against the Polish countryside. This collection gathers art prints of his paintings, from haunting allegories about his homeland to playful, theatrical self-portraits.

About Jacek Malczewski

Jacek Malczewski was born in Radom in 1854, when that part of Poland was ruled by the Russian Empire. He came from a noble but impoverished family that loved art and Romantic poetry. At 17 he moved to Kraków to study painting, and he went on to train in the master class of Jan Matejko, Poland's great history painter, finishing in 1879.

In between, he spent time in Paris, working in Henri Lehmann's studio at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie Suisse. He later travelled to Italy, joined Karol Lanckoroński's archaeological expedition to Asia Minor in 1884, and lived for a time in Munich. These journeys fed the mix of ancient myth and Polish folklore that runs through his work.

Back in Kraków, Malczewski became a central figure of the Young Poland movement. He co-founded the artists' society "Sztuka" in 1897, taught at the Academy of Fine Arts, and became its rector in 1912. He won awards in Berlin, Munich and Paris. His son Rafał also became a painter. Malczewski lost his sight late in life and died in Kraków in 1929.

Style and Subjects

Malczewski began with realistic scenes, most famously of Poles exiled to Siberia, and after 1890 his work turned more and more toward Symbolism. Melancholia (1890–1894) marks that shift. From then on he kept returning to a small set of themes: death, Poland's long struggle for independence, Greek and Christian myth, and folk tales, often blended in one picture.

Look for fantastic creatures such as chimeras, harpies and angels standing in ordinary Polish fields, and for his Thanatos, the god of death reimagined as a young woman with a scythe. His many self-portraits show him in armour, a nobleman's kontush or white robes, often surrounded by flowers and trees, and they carry a good dose of self-mocking humour. Critics have compared him to Gustave Moreau and Arnold Böcklin.

Famous Works

• Death of Ellenai (1883), National Museum in Kraków. An early work from the years when he painted the Siberian exile scenes that first made his name.
• Melancholia (1890–1894), National Museum in Poznań (Raczyński collection). A painter sits at his easel while a crowd of figures from Poland's past pours out of the canvas toward an open window and a green garden.
• Christmas Eve in Siberia (1892), National Museum in Kraków. Polish exiles share the traditional Christmas Eve meal far from home, painted in his realistic early manner.
• Vicious Circle (1895–1897), National Museum in Poznań. Figures whirl in a ring around a young man on a stepladder, an allegory of the artist's role that mixes folk, mythological and patriotic motifs.
• Thanatos (1898–1899), National Museum in Warsaw. The earliest of his Thanatos paintings, in which Death appears as a young woman holding a scythe.
• Poland's Hamlet (1903), National Museum in Warsaw. A portrait of Aleksander Wielopolski, given the title of Shakespeare's doubting prince.
• Self-Portrait in White Attire (1914), National Museum in Kraków. One of his costumed self-portraits, showing the painter as a theatrical character in his own story.

Decorating with Malczewski Prints

Malczewski's self-portraits and single-figure paintings work well in a study, library or reading corner, where their costumes and odd companions reward a closer look. Pictures with open fields and gardens in the background, like Melancholia, suit a living room or hallway where there is space to stand back and take in a crowded scene.

His darker allegories, such as Thanatos and Vicious Circle, make strong talking points in a dining room or an eclectic gallery wall alongside other Symbolist or Art Nouveau pieces. For a bedroom, choose his quieter portraits and landscape-based scenes rather than the paintings about death.

FAQ

What art movement was Jacek Malczewski part of?

Malczewski was a Symbolist painter and a leading figure of Young Poland, the Polish art movement around 1900. He started out painting realistic scenes and turned toward Symbolism after 1890.

What is Jacek Malczewski's most famous painting?

Melancholia (1890–1894) is often seen as his key work, because it marks his turn to Symbolism. Vicious Circle, the Thanatos paintings and Christmas Eve in Siberia are also among his best known.

Where can I see Malczewski's original paintings?

Most of his major works are in Polish museums. The National Museums in Kraków, Warsaw and Poznań hold the largest groups, and works from the Raczyński collection, including Melancholia and Vicious Circle, are shown in Poznań and at the museum's Rogalin branch.

How can you recognize a Malczewski painting?

Look for mythical creatures such as chimeras and angels placed in a Polish landscape, and for the artist himself in elaborate costume. Themes of death, Polish history and folklore appear again and again, often in the same picture.

Who is the woman with the scythe in Malczewski's paintings?

She is Thanatos, the Greek god of death, whom Malczewski painted as a young woman rather than the usual male figure. He returned to her in a series of paintings that began in 1898.

Related Artists

• Jan Matejko — Malczewski's teacher in Kraków and the great Polish history painter
• Wlastimil Hofman — Malczewski's student from 1898, who carried on his symbolic, allegorical style
• Artur Grottger — Polish Romantic painter whose dramatic patriotic art influenced Malczewski
• Arnold Böcklin — Swiss Symbolist often compared with Malczewski
• Gustave Moreau — French Symbolist often compared with Malczewski