Ludwik Stasiak, Wedding starosta with retinue

73x52cm, oil, cardboard

Ludwik Stasiak (1858 - 1924) is counted among the leading realist painters deeply immersed in the culture and customs of the Polish countryside. Thoroughly educated, not only as a painter, but also as a philosopher, in addition to his artwork he is also involved in literature, journalism and publishing. His studies at the Cracow Academy, where he is a student of, among others, Jan Matejko, supplemented by his stay in Munich and Vienna, give him an excellent creative workshop, while his humanistic interests and extraordinary sense of observation (numerous illustrations for the magazines "Bluszcz" and "Kłosy") allow him to be boldly called a leading portraitist of the Polish countryside. Next to Wodzinowski, Żelechowski and Tetmajer, at whose wedding in Bronowice he was a guest - he was that village's most popular illustrator at the turn of the century and in the first years of the 20th century. The care and patronage of Count Ignacy Korwin-Milewski allowed him to develop creatively and bore fruit in numerous exhibitions and awards.
The presented painting is an excellent expression of his creative interests. The excellent composition showing an approaching wedding procession in a pre-spring landscape, led by the wedding starost, is enriched by the color contrast of the blue sky and the still snow-covered ground with the already clear pre-spring melt on the road. Against this backdrop, the procession sparkles with the colors of the finely reproduced folk, festive costumes of the wedding party, showing, as it were, in "reporter" and in detail, their beauty and richness. Also symbolic is the depiction of the beginning of the young couple's new relationship in this landscape awakening to life after winter. The painting is an excellent illustration of Young Poland's admiration for folk culture - as a treasure trove of national traditions and customs.