Olga Boznańska - Self-Portrait 1908
Olga Boznańska - Self-Portrait 1908
Title: Self-Portrait
Author: Olga Boznańska
Date: circa 1908
Type: Painting
Medium: Oil on cardboard
Dimensions: height: 71 cm, width: 51 cm; with frame: height: 81.5 cm, width: 62.5 cm, depth: 6 cm
The vertically oriented painting depicts Olga Boznańska shown from head to waist. It is executed with free, spontaneous brushstrokes, scattered across the entire surface in quick, loose patches. The dominant tones are green and blue. The representation of the figure is ambiguous: although Boznańska is shown to the waist, her arms dissolve into the background, and the contours of her form are blurred and translucent. Where her shoulders and hands should be, the interior behind her comes through. This treatment lends her the appearance of a statue rather than a physical body.
The palette is dark and subdued, relieved only by the brightness of the face. Light falls from above, from the left, casting a shadow on the right side of her face. She stands upright, wearing a green-and-blue hat with a central indentation, its upper part extending beyond the frame. Her dark hair is braided into a long plait, falling over her right shoulder. She is turned slightly to the right. Her complexion is olive-toned, muted, with bluish translucent spots across the surface, perhaps accidental paint smudges. Her eyebrows are rounded; her dark eyes are deeply set, her lids lowered slightly. She looks directly outward. Her nose is small and refined, her lips pressed firmly together. Around her eyes, cheeks, and ears are faint touches of red. The overall expression is serious and dignified.
Boznańska wears an elegant high-collared dress. The collar is nearly black, with thin red strokes suggesting a ribbon. The dress itself is in muted greens and blues, its surface decorated with irregular vertical markings, sketched with flowing brushstrokes.
The background suggests an interior, built of loosely arranged green and blue patches. It is lighter on the left, where the light source lies, and darker along the right edge, nearly black. On the left side of the wall hangs a framed painting in gold, its frame cropped by the canvas. The floor, dark brown, peeks out beneath the hem of Boznańska’s dress.
The self-portrait is painted with strong expressiveness, conveying not only the artist’s appearance but her character. It presents Boznańska as serious, dignified, and somewhat austere, yet unidealized. In this work she does not seek perfection but offers a truthful image of herself, even if it is not flawless.
Audio description prepared by Emilia Szymańska
Consultation: Adrian Wyka
Substantive Consultation: Urszula Kozakowska - Zaucha
Author: Olga Boznańska
Date: circa 1908
Type: Painting
Medium: Oil on cardboard
Dimensions: height: 71 cm, width: 51 cm; with frame: height: 81.5 cm, width: 62.5 cm, depth: 6 cm
The vertically oriented painting depicts Olga Boznańska shown from head to waist. It is executed with free, spontaneous brushstrokes, scattered across the entire surface in quick, loose patches. The dominant tones are green and blue. The representation of the figure is ambiguous: although Boznańska is shown to the waist, her arms dissolve into the background, and the contours of her form are blurred and translucent. Where her shoulders and hands should be, the interior behind her comes through. This treatment lends her the appearance of a statue rather than a physical body.
The palette is dark and subdued, relieved only by the brightness of the face. Light falls from above, from the left, casting a shadow on the right side of her face. She stands upright, wearing a green-and-blue hat with a central indentation, its upper part extending beyond the frame. Her dark hair is braided into a long plait, falling over her right shoulder. She is turned slightly to the right. Her complexion is olive-toned, muted, with bluish translucent spots across the surface, perhaps accidental paint smudges. Her eyebrows are rounded; her dark eyes are deeply set, her lids lowered slightly. She looks directly outward. Her nose is small and refined, her lips pressed firmly together. Around her eyes, cheeks, and ears are faint touches of red. The overall expression is serious and dignified.
Boznańska wears an elegant high-collared dress. The collar is nearly black, with thin red strokes suggesting a ribbon. The dress itself is in muted greens and blues, its surface decorated with irregular vertical markings, sketched with flowing brushstrokes.
The background suggests an interior, built of loosely arranged green and blue patches. It is lighter on the left, where the light source lies, and darker along the right edge, nearly black. On the left side of the wall hangs a framed painting in gold, its frame cropped by the canvas. The floor, dark brown, peeks out beneath the hem of Boznańska’s dress.
The self-portrait is painted with strong expressiveness, conveying not only the artist’s appearance but her character. It presents Boznańska as serious, dignified, and somewhat austere, yet unidealized. In this work she does not seek perfection but offers a truthful image of herself, even if it is not flawless.
Audio description prepared by Emilia Szymańska
Consultation: Adrian Wyka
Substantive Consultation: Urszula Kozakowska - Zaucha