Wincenty Sleńdzinski, MAŁA KOKIETKA, 1886

49.0 x 41.2cm - oil, doubled canvas signed l.śr: Vilnius 1886 | VSleńdziński [initials bound].

Compare:

- Wincenty Sleńdziński, At the Moment of Doubt. Utwory zebrane, Bialystok 2006, p. 98, il. [Card #75 from sketchbook, signed La petite - Coquette].

The Vilnius period (1883-1909) in the work of Wincenty Sleńdzinski, painter and exile, begins in 1883, when the artist returned to Vilnius under a tsarist amnesty. At that time Sleńdzinski painted a lot, he did not let the brush out of his hand until the end of his life. Researchers of his work estimate that he painted more than 1,200 paintings, most of which he sold. Unfortunately, only a small part of his oeuvre has survived to our time. Today, his works are primarily in museum collections in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, as well as in private collections. They are a rarity on the art market.

The sketch for Little Coquette, bearing the author's title: La petite - Coquette, is in the artist's sketchbook, which is kept in the collection of the Sleńdzinski Gallery in Bialystok (card no. 75). The drawings from the author's notebook were created in 1865-1869 in Kniaginina, the place where the artist was exiled, and in Kharkov - where he stayed after receiving permission from the authorities to stay there after 1867. The painter continued to use his sketchbook long after his return from exile, as evidenced by the Kokietka created in 1886.

The offered portrait is part of the current of salon painting, inspired by the Rococo. The artist, who has made a name for himself as a respected portraitist, perfectly captured the freshness of the young girl's complexion. Placing his model against a neutral background, he focused the viewer's attention on her delicate beauty and flirtatious gaze.

Wincenty Slendzinski (Skrebiny, Vilnius district - Vilnius 1909) - painter, pianist, exile, father of Ludomir, one of the most famous artists of the interwar period. He was the son of painter Aleksander Sleńdzinski, with whom he initially studied painting and drawing, and also took piano lessons from Stanislaw Moniuszko. In 1855, together with E. M. Andriolli, he went to Moscow, where he studied at the local School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, which was a branch of the St. Petersburg academy, in the studio of Sergei Zarianko (1855-1863). During his studies he won three medals, including two silver ones. He fought in the January Uprising, and after its fall was exiled to Kharkov and Kniagin. In 1872 he stayed in Krakow, and then lived for several years with his father's friend Jozef Ignacy Kraszewski in Dresden. There he painted portraits of people from the landed gentry spheres, including the Działyński, Mielżyński, Działowski and Kwilecki families. In 1875 he was again exiled to Kharkov. In 1883 he received permission to return to Vilna, where he lived for the rest of his life. There he married the widow of Jozef Czechowicz, a well-known photographer there. He created genre scenes, portraits, landscapes, as well as works on historical themes from the history of Lithuania and religious paintings, for which he was particularly praised.