Stanislaw Gorski, Young Cracovienne

Pastel, cardboard, dimensions 50 x 60 cm, signed on the underside : "St. Górski", in pencil.

Stanislaw Gorski (1887-1955) was born in 1887 in Koscian, and died in 1955 in Cracow. In 1908 he graduated from the Cracow Industrial School, and between 1909 and 1914 he studied at the local Academy of Fine Arts in the studio of Jozef Pankiewicz. He then undertook service in the Polish Legions. In 1916 he returned to study at the academy and studied under Teodor Axentowicz until 1917. Stanislaw Gorski painted genre scenes, landscapes and portraits, the subjects of which were almost always Podhale Highlanders, Krakow girls and, less frequently, Carpathian Hutsuls. The artist most often executed his works in pastel, sometimes using oil techniques as well.
Stanislaw Gorski's painting style betrays a strong influence of his teacher Teodor Axentowicz. It manifests itself in the decorativeness and suppleness of lines, a subtle, bright color range and extraordinary precision in rendering the character of the model through plastic means.