Henryk Baranowski (1932 Starogard Gdański - 2005 Gdynia), Poodle of China, 1970s.

gouache, pastel, paper, 68 × 48 cm (light passe-partout)
Signed p. d.: "H.Baranowski"

Provenance:
Collection of the family of Jadwiga Thom

This is most likely the only painting of a dog in Henryk Baranowski's oeuvre. The portrayed Chin is the beloved dog of Jadwiga Thom, who, together with her husband Bruno, ran a glassblowing shop in Gdynia at 26 Antoniego Abrahama St. One of the regular customers of the shop was Henryk Baranowski, who framed all his works here. Mrs. Jadwiga was the first to bring a poodle dog to Gdynia after the war, and here she bred five successive generations of miniature, pedigree poodles. In the early 1970s, her beloved Chin died. It was then that Henryk Baranowski proposed to Mrs. Jadwiga to paint a work with her beloved dog. And so, based on a black and white photograph, the painting just presented was created. The color scheme is the artist's invention and was meant to cause a sense of joy rather than loss.