Portrait with

The work of Piotr Klugowski, realised in oil on canvas, is a genre scene situated in an undefined environment composed of irregular surfaces. The painting colour scheme revolves around warm and soothing tones: redness, light browns and yellows, contrasted here and there with greens and dark blues. On the right half of the background, which is full of strong divisions, there are several figures, some of them are visible only in the outline, emerging or disappearing in a colourful glow.
The figure located in the foreground, in a dark suit and triangular head-wear, seems to be the main character of the presentation, although the title of this picture, constituting a rhetorical understatement, indicates the fluid and uncertain relationship between the subject of the work and its supplement or staffage. This figure could be either one of the commedia dell’arte characters or the mummer, whose acting requires, in addition to the distinctive clothing, especially evocative facial expressions. For both on his face and the face of the naked female figure located in the back, there is an emphatic sad grimace, which in both cases is further enhanced by half-closed eyelids. [F. Pregowski]