By Wawel Royal Castle
Agnieszka Janczyk, Works on Paper Curator
Country Girl in a Yellow Kerchief (1900) by Wyczółkowski Leon (1852-1936)Wawel Royal Castle
This dreamy image of a wistful young girl dressed in folk costume was executed in 1900 by the eminent painter and printmaker Leon Wyczółkowski (1852–1936) during his Krakow period.
The artist signed and dated the picture in the upper left corner: LWyczółkowski / 1900.
Leon Piniński
Shortly after it was painted, the pastel was acquired by the notable Polish collector and politician Leon Piniński (1857–1938), who was viceroy of Galicia at the time.
Piniński loaned his picture to the exhibition of the Towarzystwo Artystów Polskich “Sztuka” (Art Society of Polish Artists) in Lwów (now Lviv) in February 1901.
Country Girl in a Yellow Kerchief (1900) by Wyczółkowski Leon (1852-1936)Wawel Royal Castle
In 1931, the collector launched the Count Leon Piniński Wawel Foundation (formally ratified in 1935), donating to Wawel Royal Castle part of his extensive collection, including the pastel (no. 203).
The picture disappeared during World War II in undetermined circumstances. In 2021, it returned to Wawel Royal Castle thanks to the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Country Girl in a Yellow Kerchief (1900) by Wyczółkowski Leon (1852-1936)Wawel Royal Castle
The girl wears a short, fitted, long-sleeve jacket. Such richly decorated jackets were worn on festive occasions.
The sitter’s outfit is completed by a white and beige skirt, gathered at the waist, and a cream-colored apron.
The coral beads and the fringed, flower-patterned yellow kerchief tied at the back of the girl’s head confirm that she is wearing her Sunday best.
The girl’s clothing indicates that she comes from a village near Krakow, most likely Bronowice (today a part of the city), to which Wyczółkowski had close ties. As the second title suggests, it is most certainly not a Tatra Highlander costume.
In the pastel On Corpus Christi, painted in 1901 but known only from a reproduction, the sitter is depicted wearing a light-colored outfit and the characteristic patterned kerchief.
Krakow Peasant Girl
Wyczółkowski painted the same model two more times. In the pastel Krakow Peasant Girl at the Museum of the Kujawy and Dobrzyn Region in Włocławek, the sitter wears the same outfit consisting of the jacket, blouse, skirt and apron, along with the flowered yellow kerchief and coral beads.
Country Girl in a Yellow Kerchief (1900) by Wyczółkowski Leon (1852-1936)Wawel Royal Castle
The image of the melancholy girl in the Wawel Royal Castle collection is an outstanding example of the talent and skill of Leon Wyczółkowski, one of the Poland’s preeminent pastelists.
Curator of the exhibition
Agnieszka Janczyk, Works on Paper Curator
Curator of the Exhibition "Wyczółkowski Rediscovered"
Translation
Sabina Potaczek-Jasionowicz
List of Photographs
Photography Department, Wawel Royal Castle
Krakow Peasant Girl, Museum of the Kujawy and Dobrzyn Region in Włocławek
Katalog wystawy Towarzystwa Artystów Polskich „Sztuka”, National Museum in Krakow Library, https://cyfrowe.mnk.pl/dlibra/publication/19958/edition/19681/content
