Włodzimierz Tetmajer (1862 Harklowa - 1923 Kraków), Summer Day

oil, cardboard, 48 x 70 cm
Signed p. d.: WT

This is how Tetmajer himself described Jan Matejko's reaction to seeing one of his landscapes years later: "I was afraid that he would kick me out of the studio. However, I invited him in. He came, sat for a long time, looked at the painting, thought something, and after a while said: (...) I, my lord, when I'm at my place in the countryside, I often observe how in the early morning the citizens go with their horses to fetch water, casting a deep blue shadow beyond themselves. I also see the sun and the contrasts of the shadow reflecting the sky, only I can't do it. I have other interests. To you belong the air
and the sun, while I will stay with the old kings (...) Well done, Lord! It's good that you went this way, I like the painting, please finish it...".
Leon Kowalski, With brush and pen..., 1934