Stanisław Ignacy WITKIEWICZ WITKACY (1885–1939), Portrait of Maria Kamińska

pastel on paper; 69 x 48 cm (inside the frame);
signed, dated, and inscribed lower left: 1936 / 9/III Witkacy NP N[Pi] + pywko.
The portrait studio “S.I. Witkiewicz” was founded by the artist in 1925. It operated according to strict regulations, offering clients several basic types of portraits, designated by letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E—ranging from smooth and realistic to expressive and heavily distorted. The paintings often also included information indicating whether the artist had been working under the influence of mind-altering substances.
The pastel on display depicts Maria Kamińska, a figure belonging to the social and artistic circle in which Witkacy moved. The artist immortalized her on numerous occasions (catalogs include, among other works, close-up studies of her eyes and other portrait views). Witkiewicz rendered her facial features with great precision, imbuing her gaze and the line of her lips with the psychological depth and subtle pride characteristic of his style.
The way the model is depicted—with strongly defined contours, expressive shading of the face using a dense network of lines, and a distinctive, magnetic gaze place this work close to Type E and derivatives of Type B, meaning that the face retains full likeness and anatomical accuracy, but the shading technique (dense, expressive hatching) gives the portrait a unique, dynamic form.