Author: Ruszczyc Ferdynand , 1870 - 1936
Created: 1906.
Material / technique: oil on canvas.
Dimensions: 55x65 cm.
Signatue: F.Rusczyc (in the bottom-right corner of the painting).
This picture by FERDYNAND RUSZCZYC (1870–1936), which has been reproduced many times in various publications, is often regarded as portraying a cosy interior on the artist’s estate. However, the blind wall of the light wooden corner cupboard and three still-lifes, a bunch of dark wilting flowers in the foreground, a dried reed in a white vase on the left of the picture, and a clock standing out from other objects on the cupboard, create an oppressive and even menacing atmosphere of unease. They imply that something bad has happened in the house, or will happen soon, that maybe the inhabitants will suffer from loss, grief or illness. A painted seascape on the right of the picture, with a boat happily making its way through the waves, driven by snow-white sails filled with wind, helps to dispel this impression a little.
Reference: Art Album “Objects on show”. Compiled by G. Jankevičiūtė. Vilnius, ELLEX VALIUNAS, 2017, P. 134.
In 19th-century art, views of grand houses were seen as monuments to the noble way of life, as a memory of the homeland or as the immortalisation of the homes of famous people. Of the multitude of drawings, paintings and prints on the subject, most show houses from the outside: interior views are extremely rare, as if the inner life of these homes was hidden from the eyes of an outsider. Only at the end of the 19th century, with the dissemination of photography, did photographic views of interiors become more common. FERDYNAND RUSZCZYC (1870–1936) was one of the few artists who took the viewer inside his home. He painted the interior of his house at Bohdanow many times. It is interesting that there are also photographs of the subjects of the paintings by Ruszczyc. A comparison of them reveals some subtle differences between the gaze of the photographer and the gaze of the painter. In Interior at Bohdanow, painted in 1906, the focus is on a fine Biedermeier light wooden writing desk in the corner of the room. This piece of furniture is imposing, and at the same time it radiates warmth; its firm bearing seems to resist the passing of time, which carries away people, events and fates. Time is symbolised by numerous objects in the room: flowers wilting in a vase, bouquets of dried reeds, a clock on the writing desk, portraits of people who may have lived some time ago hanging on the walls, and part of a canvas with a sailing boat blown by the wind.
Reference: "RES PUBLICA" The art collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas. Compiler R. Jononienė. Vilnius, 2018, P. 64.
The illustrated weekly Swiat published a particularly detailed article about the new professor and chairman of Sztuka: <...> It is above all his unusual, sincere depiction of life in nature that distinguishes him; [...] novelty and simplicity are the greatest beauties of Ruszczyc's work. They never leave the artist, neither when he stylises nature in his wonderful "Winter Fairy Tale", nor when he takes us into one of the innumerable cottages, into the beloved Lithuanian manor houses, where often painterly elements subtly mix with shades of pathos and sensuality, creating a mood of complete unity, characteristic of all Polish art. And the components of his talent have at their disposal a mastery of pictorial means. [...] Those incomparable interiors, those "grandmother's rooms", which speak the language of the centuries, bring to contemporary exhibitions or modern salons a reflection of a bygone era, a note of a song: those old fireplaces, clocks, columns, desks, various mementos from the Bogdanov estate, various relics covered with patina. [...] This is Ruszczyc as an artist. But behind this painterly quality there is also a man with a sincere devotion: with a quiet enthusiasm for his homeland, with the spirit of a poet and a citizen. Let us add: a man for whom art has become a second religion. Stoslaw [Antoni Choloniewski], 'Ferdynand Ruszczyc', Swiat, no. 7, 1908).
Reference: Algė Andriulytė "Ferdynandas Ruszczycas: Civis Vilnensis Sum", Publishing House of Vilnius Academy of Arts, 2018, P. 117-118.
Exhibitions: TPSP w Krakowie o treści [druk, maszynopis]: R. 1937. Grudzień Nr. 2265 /223/ Autor Ferdynand Ruzczyc / Adres Wystawa pośmiertna / Dzieło Wnętrze; Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie [maszynopis]: VI/24. DROBIAZGI / Ruszczyc, Wnętrze z / Bohdanowa - Kantorek / MNW/KONIEC WIEKU ’96; Muzeum Narodowe / w Warszawie / p376/02/19; [druk] Wystawa Monograficzna / Ferdynanda Ruszczyca / Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie / II-IV 2002 / Muzeum Okręgowe w Toruniu / IV-VI 2002 / Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie / VII-IX 2002 / LDM w Wilnie X-XII 2002; "The Break of Dawn. Lithuanian Visual Arts Prior to 1918", 10 May 2018 – 31 May 2019, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas.
Published: Katalog wystawy pośmiertnej prac malarskich i rysunkowych Ferdynanda Ruszczyca, Wilno X 1937, il. [własność rodziny artysty]; Ferdynand Ruszczyc 1870-1936, Przewodnik 127, TZSP Warszawa, XI-XII 1937, s. 60, nr kat. 347, il. [własność rodziny artysty]; Ferdynand Ruszczyc 1870-1936. Katalog wystawy pośmiertnej , TPSP w Krakowie, XII 1937 - I 1938, s. 33, nr kat. 223, il. [własność rodziny artysty]; M. Wallis, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, „Wiadomości Literackie” 1937, nr 31, s. 6; Ferdynand Ruszczyc. Źycie i dzieło. Księga zbiorowa, Wilno 1939, il. na s. 188, po s. 188 il. barwna; Ferdynand Ruszczyc 1870-1936. Katalog. [red. J. Ruszczycówna], Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie 1964, s. 64, nr kat. I/140 [własność rodziny artysty]; J. Ruszczycówna, Ferdynand Ruszczyc (1870-1936). Krajobrazy i wnętrza, Katalog wystawy, Muzeum Okręgowe w Białej Podlaskiej 1881, s. 11, nr kat. 46; Ferdynand Ruszczyc 1870-1936. Malarz i rysownik, Muzeum Okręgowe, Lublin, 1984, s. 17, poz. 45; F. Ruszczyc, Dziennik, Część pierwsza, Ku Wilnu 1894-1919, [wybór, układ, opracowanie i wstęp E. Ruszczyc], Warszawa 1994, s. 181, 387, il. 76; Koniec wieku. Sztuka polskiego modernizmu 1890-1914, Katalog wystawy przygotowany pod kierunkiem Elżbiety Charazińskiej i Łukasza Kossowskiego, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, Warszawa 1996, s. 175, nr kat. VI/24, il. na s. 199; Impressionismus und Symbolismus, Malerei der Jahrhundertwende aus Polen, [red. E. Charazińska], Eine Ausstellung des National Museums Warschau, Staatliche Kunsthalle Bade-Baden, 6. Dezember 1997-1. März 1998, kat. nr 84, il. na s. 111; Ferdynand Ruszczyc 1870-1936. Życie i dzieło, [S. Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, A. Kroplewska-Gajewska], Muzum Narodowe w Krakowie, Kraków 2002, s. 123, nr kat. 102, il.; S. Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, Wydawnictwo Kluszczyński Kraków 2007, il. na s. 108; 1000 arcydzieł malarstwa polskiego, [praca zbiorowa], Wydawnictwo Kluszczyński Kraków 2008, tekst, il. na s. 340; Art Album “Objects on show”. Compiled by G. Jankevičiūtė. Vilnius, ELLEX VALIUNAS, 2017, P. 135, Cat. No. 104 P. 285, Cat. No. 104, P. 285; "RES PUBLICA" The art collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas. Compiler R. Jononienė. Vilnius, 2018, P. 65, Cat. No. 80, P. 226; Algė Andriulytė "Ferdynandas Ruszczycas: Civis Vilnensis Sum", Publishing House of Vilnius Academy of Arts, 2018, P. 118.
Photographs: display in the exhibition "The Break of Dawn. Lithuanian Visual Arts Prior to 1918", 10 May 2018 – 31 May 2019, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas.