The Lupin Field

Władysław Podkowiński and Józef Pankiewicz are among the Polish pioneers of painting based on the principles of French impressionism, which they encountered during their stay in Paris in 1889, quickly learning its principles. Władysław Podkowiński drew on his Parisian experiences mainly during his holiday stays with his friends in Mokra Wieś near Radzymin and in nearby Chrzęsne. Enchanted by the local landscape, he went out into the open air to paint random, banal fragments of the landscape. He noticed its changeability under the influence of light, and was fascinated by the play of colours, the movement of shadows, as well as reflections in the surface of water and the tremors of hot air. The Lupin Field, created during one of these plein air paintings, shows a picturesque field of colourful flowers, common in the Polish summer landscape. The painting is characterised by an effective composition built on the basis of horizontal divisions created by colourful bands of successive planes. The artist entrusted an important role to the color palette, maintained in light tones, reflecting the mood of a summer day and harmonizing with the light.