Ferdynand Ruszczyc, BABIE LATO, Sketch, 1902

23.8 x 15.5cm - oil, canvas glued on cardboard

On the reverse:
- inscription l.g. (in blue crayon): BOHDANÓW WILEŃSZCZYZN [sic!] | FRUSZCZYC | 70 next to (in pencil): BOHDANOW WILEENSZCZYZNA | F. RUSZCZYC | Z. 70 (number corrected in purple paint, referring to the item in the 1937 Zachęta catalog).
- l.d. sticker from the artist's posthumous exhibition at the TPSP in Cracow, December 1937 (print, typescript, stamp): Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Sztuk Pięknych w Krakowie | R. 1937. December | No. 2115 / 73 / | Author: Ferdynand RUSZCZYC | Address Posthumous Exhibition | Work: Sketch for "Babi Summer" | Execution: oil | price | Posthumous Exhibition FERD. RUSZCZYCA; next to a sticker (in ink): F. Ruszczyc | Sketch for Babi Summer | oil | family owned.
- p.d. number referring to the item number in the 1964 MNW catalog (in red pen): I / 127 next to it along the right edge (in blue crayon): 1602.
- On the lower trim of the frame a sticker of the gilding studio.

The presented sketch is a study for the painting Babie Summer painted in the same, 1902. This atmospheric and poetic landscape perfectly demonstrates how strongly Ruszczyc was connected to nature and the landscape of his native land. He treated the landscape not as a faithful reproduction of reality, but as a vehicle for his mood and reflections.

In Babi Summer, despite the narrow framing, Ruszczyc depicts a vast, almost empty landscape at the turn of summer and autumn. The main protagonist are the delicate threads of a spider web floating in the air - the Babi Summer of the title - hooked to a branch of a bush. The painting is a subtle symbol of transience and inevitable changes. The strength of the presented landscape is the atmosphere of silence and reverie. The artist builds the mood by using color patches with a subdued range of colors and soft light reflections in the central part of the landscape.

The monumentalization of nature, characteristic of Ruszczyc, makes even a seemingly ordinary motif take on an almost metaphysical and lyrical dimension, so typical of Young Poland art.
In Ruszczyc's paintings, nature often becomes a reflection of the artist's emotional and spiritual states. The Babe of Summer can be read as a reflection on the passing, not only of summer, but also on the fragility of human life. However, the symbolic meaning of the painting is not imposed directly - the artist leaves the viewer space for personal experience and interpretation.

The work perfectly demonstrates Ruszczyc's unique ability to combine realistic observation of nature with a symbolist mood.

The painting exhibited, mentioned and reproduced in, among others:: - Catalog of the posthumous exhibition of Ferdynand Ruszczyc's painting and drawing works, Vilnius X 1937, p. 26, cat. no. 70 (Sketch for "Babi Summer"; owned by the artist's family);
- Ferdynand Ruszczyc 1870-1936, Guide 127, TZSP Warsaw, XI - XII 1937, p. 33, cat. no. 70 (Sketch for "Babi summer"; owned by the artist's family);
- Ferdynand Ruszczyc 1870-1936. catalog of posthumous exhibition, TPSP in Kraków, XII 1937 - I 1938, p. 20, cat. no. 73 (Sketch for "Babi summer"; owned by the artist's family);
- Ferdynand Ruszczyc 1870-1936, catalog [ed. J. Ruszczycowna], National Museum in Warsaw 1964, p. 61, cat. no. I. 127 (Babie lato, 1902; owned by the artist's family).

Ferdynand Ruszczyc (Bohdanow 1870 - Bohdanow 1936) - prominent painter and pedagogue, adept of the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, where in 1892-1897 he studied under I. I. Shyshkin and A Kuindzhi. His student works were awarded medals from the Academy several times. He traveled extensively as an artist - in 1894 and 1895 he traveled to Crimea, in 1896 and 1897 he traveled via Königsberg and Szczecin to Rügen, Bornholm and southern Sweden, and in 1898 to Berlin, Cologne, Paris, Dunkirk, Ostend, Brussels, Basel, Lucerne, Lugano, Milan, Venice and Vienna. In 1897 he settled in the family estate of Bohdan. Since 1900 he was a member of the Society of Polish Artists "Art". Since 1904 he was a professor at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw, in 1907-1908 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. Later he returned to Vilnius, where he became an animator of the local artistic life. After World War I, he was an organizer and professor of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius. He painted primarily landscapes imbued with a highly emotional feeling for nature and wildlife. Ruszczyc's paintings Earth or Nec Mergitur are among the most outstanding examples of the Symbolist trend in Young Poland painting. He also painted the interiors of his family's manor house in Bohdanov, and was involved in theatrical stage design, illustration and book graphics.