Autolithography, paper; 44 x 57 cm, in light of passe - partout of 58 x71 cm.
Signed on stone medr. d. "F" and inscribed by the author "Eros and Psyche. Rinascimento"
The social and artistic life of Krakow at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries developed intensely, concentrating both in salons and at the tables of fashionable cafes. Kazimierz Sichulski, along with Karol Frycz, Stanislaw Kuczborski, Stanislaw Rzecki and Wojciech Wojtkiewicz, joined the group of Lviv mockers who, at the café table of Jan Apolini Michalik's Lviv Pastry Shop, came up with the idea of preparing a lithographic portfolio of caricatures of actresses and actors in the roles of plays being performed at the time - "The Wedding." "Eros and Psyche," "The Children of Vanyanshin," "The Neighbors' Sisters," "The Marriage of Figaro," "Kosciuszko at Raclawice," "Anastasia," "The Merchant of Venice," "The Half-Girlfriends" and "The Maiden Vows." And so, under Rzecki's guidance, the famous "Teka Melpomena" was born in 1904, printed free of charge by Zenon Pruszyński at his Artistic Lithography Works, a friend of artists and a faithful ally in their play. . Teki" included 38 autolithographs designed by prominent artists of the Young Poland period.
"In a distorted mirror of caricature and joke, in fluent drawing and in flat splashes of color and black, sometimes against a background starry with paint dusting - we observe the heads and figures of actresses, actors and collective scenes, including an enchanted dance by Chooch."
Popular and favorite actors include: Jadwiga Mrozowska, Helena Sulima, Stanisława Wysocka, Jerzy and Bolesław Leszczyński, Marian Jednowski, Michał Przybyłowicz, Aleksander Zelwerowicz. "Teka Melpomeny" entertained, a little inferior, but it was very popular, and its fame has survived to this day. The lithographs from this portfolio were exhibited in 1905 at the Krywult Salon in Warsaw; many of them stuck in the portfolios of collectors, others adorned the walls of salons and rooms of lovers of graphics, Art Nouveau, theater, and fun. They also adorned the walls of the Lvivska Cukiernia Lwowska, where the idea of a portfolio was born and where the artistic cabaret Zielony Balonik (Green Balloon) was established in 1905, and the confectionery began to be called the Michalik's Den," which still operates today.
