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Breton Woman І

Julia Smolkowna

Basic information
ID
С-I-338
Author
Julia Smolkowna
Name
Breton Woman І
Date of creation
1916
Country
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Culture
Contemporary times
Technique
moulding
Material
plaster vernix
Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm)
28 x 11 x 14
Additionally
Type
sculpture 3D
Genre
genre art
Provenance
National Gallery of Lviv (until 1940)
Information about author
Author
Julia Smolkowna
Artist's lifetime
1880–1944
Country
Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland
Biography
Julia Smolkowna (1880–1944) was a sculptor, member of the Association of Polish Women Artists in Lviv, and granddaughter of the famous Galician politician Franciszek Smolka. She studied at the Lviv School of Art and Industry (1909–1913) and later in Paris (1913–1914). Between 1917 and 1923, she participated in the Association of Polish Women Artists exhibitions in Lviv, where her works were well received. From 1925, she taught sculpture at the Association of Polish Women Artists studio in Lviv at 12 Stefan Batory Street (now Kniazia Romana Street). She died on 28 July 1944 and was buried in the Lychakiv cemetery. The artist is the author of portrait busts, genre compositions, memorial projects, memorial portrait medallions, and bas-reliefs commissioned by A. Zachariewicz and A. Piller and placed on the facades and interiors of some buildings in Lviv. She worked in plaster and bronze. She used a formal system typical of 1900–1918, combining the inspirations of Auguste Rodin, Impressionism, and Secession. In her later works, she used the artistic language of modernised Classicism, "academic Realism," and, less frequently, Art Deco.
Object description
The embodiment of the "realistic genre" tendencies in J. Smolkowna's oeuvre is represented by plot scenes, which received favourable reviews from art critics. For example, V. Zhyla wrote in the "Lvivska Gazeta" that "Smolkowna's small figures are very mobile as if they were constantly enveloped in air, surrounded by trembling, vibrating energy". S. Makhnievych, in his review of the IV Exhibition of Lviv Artists in 1921, said: "Smolkowna is rooted in modern French sculpture (Rodin), has a lot of courage, scope, and a sense of volume". The "perfection of plasticity and movement" of the action groups created by J. Smolkowna was noted by J. Tomicka in her review of the VI Exhibition of the Association of Polish Women Artists in Lviv. The "Breton Woman І" figure (1916) is one of three variations of the motif in the works by J. Smolkowna from Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery collection, created, probably, under the influence of direct impressions received by the sculptor in France in 1913–1914. Figuratively, the work resonates with numerous sketches of street scenes in art history – from Annibale Carracci's "Professions of Bologna" to Jean-Antoine Watteau's "Savoyard with a Marmot". The dominant feature of the work is the capture of the characteristic in everyday momentary action as if torn from the flow of life. The sculpture is characterised by dynamic modelling, creating a play of light and shadow and an impressionistic fluidity of form.
Inscriptions
The signature on the left side of the base reads: "J. Smolkówna".
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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