Stanisław Eleszkiewicz (1900, Czutowo near Poltava – 1963, Paris), Man at a Table

tempera on paper, 73 × 71.5 cm (inside the mat)
signed lower left: “S. Eleszkiewicz”

“In my subjects, I seek expression, extending even to the expression of objects themselves. For example, I like to depict, in a landscape of leaning houses, a man running with a tea set consisting of a great variety of objects. Or a pastry chef with a huge tower-shaped cake, also walking through a completely deserted city. Or a parish priest walking with a stride hardly befitting a clergyman, a newspaper vendor, people sitting at tables, or drunks with the swagger of the rue de la Gaité—generally speaking, characters from the lower strata of society. But my favorite subject was the heads of thugs and people in general. It was in these heads that I sought expression—that expression of infinity, as well as an air of mystery.” Stanisław Eleszkiewicz – Autobiographical Sketch, excerpt, [in:] “Stanisław Eleszkiewicz,” exhibition catalog, Lipert Gallery, New York 1986, unnumbered.