Adam STYKA (1890–1959), Scene on the Nile (At the Watering Hole)

oil on canvas; 49.5 x 62.5 cm;
signed lower right in a square: ADAM / STYKA.

Adam Styka came from an artistic family. He was the son of Jan Styka and the brother of Adam—both of whom were also painters. These connections bring to mind the most famous “dynasty” of Polish painters—the Kossak family. The artist explored Oriental themes in his works. Depictions of Arab cities and scenes, oases, Bedouins, as well as sensual female nudes are the genres in which the painter’s artistic mastery is most evident. During World War I, he served in General Haller’s army; he then traveled to North Africa—Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Egypt—from which he drew his main inspiration for his paintings, much like Aleksander Laszenko and Michał Feliks Wygrzywalski.