Self-portrait
 Self-portrait

Self-portrait

Author: Konstanty Gorski , 1868 - 1934

Created: 1896.

Material / technique: oil on canvas.

Dimensions: 115x66 cm.

Signature: KGorski 96  (in the bottom-left corner of the painting).

The artist KONSTANTY GÓRSKI (1868–1934) was born on the Kazimieravas estate near Vandžiogala, and studied art at Ivan Trutnev’s School of Drawing in Vilnius. His studies later took him to Moscow, St Petersburg, Munich, Paris and Rome. He established a reputation as an outstanding painter of portraits, history and genre pictures, as well as being a talented book illustrator. On returning from his travels in Europe, Górski lived with his brothers on the Kazimieravas estate for a short while. He moved to Warsaw in 1894, but also took part in artistic life in Vilnius. He created a collection of family portraits at Kazimieravas. The self-portrait from 1896 shows a man dressed in a fashionable light suit, elegant, refined and cultivated. There is no coat of arms or other details pointing to his social status, but it is clear from the subject’s posture. The format of the painting and the composition, with the figure cut off at the knees, are characteristics of society portraits, but the relaxed pose, with one hand in a pocket, avoids an official impression, and gives it a certain familiarity and nonchalance. The subject is looking sideways, preserving a distance between the painter and the viewer, and emphasising the unfathomable mood of the artist.

Reference: "RES PUBLICA" The art collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas. Compiler R. Jononienė. Vilnius, 2018, P. 129.

Exhibitions: Exhibition "Vilnius art society 1908-1915“, 1999, Lithuanian Art Musuem. It is possible that this painting was exhibited in one of Vilnius Art Society exhibitions during the years 1908-1915; Académie de Vilna, 2017  October 5 - November 26, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius.

Published:   "Vilnius art society 1908-1915“, Vilnius: Lithuanian Art Musuem, 1999, P. 28; Académie de Vilna. VILNIUS DRAWING SCHOOL 1866–1915. Exhibition Catalogue. Compiled by dr. J. Širkaitė, Vilnius 2017, P. 178, Cat. No. 168 P. 79; "RES PUBLICA" The art collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas. Compiler R. Jononienė. Vilnius, 2018, P. 128, Cat. No. 29, P. 217; Jolanta Širkaitė. Monograph “Vilnius Drawing School 1866–1915”, Lithuanian Cultural Research Institute, Vilnius 2018, P. 216.