Wlastimil Hofman (1881 Prague - 1970 Szklarska Poreba), Irenka from Szklarska Poreba, 1963.

oil, fiberboard, 34 × 26.5 cm
Signed and dated l. g.: "1963/Wlastimil/ Hofman."
described on the reverse

Children were Wlastimil Hofman's favorite models, as the artist recalled: "[...] children, like the Bible, are a pretext for showing this or that world [...] I cannot agree with the term primarily, but I can assure you that I am a painter of thoughts and experiences... [...] I am primarily a painter of children... I like children very much - and that is why I like to paint them. But that's not all. Every child has an infallible, instinct, tact. He can distinguish between right and wrong. He doesn't have complexes. He does not have as many prejudices as adults. Through the mouth of a child speaks truth, beauty, goodness. [...]" (B.Czajkowski, Portrait from Memory, Wroclaw 1971, pp. 137-138.
The Hofmans' house on Spadzista Street in Cracow was always filled with children. As Ada recalled: "No, I've never been a mother, but it seems to me that parental feelings and worries are familiar to me [...J. Kubuś Szopa, the son of a cleaning lady, a half-orphan, outright refused to leave our studio after posing. Hela Fliszewska grew and matured in our eyes, and began to be painted by Wlast as a ninny. We also had as 'regulars' seven young workers, working from dawn to dusk in the cigarette factory." [...] "The Hofmans created something like a home for these poor kids [...]. They took care of them, allowing them to spend their days in the garden and in the house, also outside the time of posing for paintings, fed them, clothed them, organized trips and Christmas packages" (B.Danielska, "In Szklarska Poreba, all roads lead to Wlastimilowka", Szklarska Poreba 2017, p. 103.)