Artwork Title: Chmury (Clouds)

Chmury (Clouds), 1906

Konrad Krzyzanowski

Epic yet homely, comforting yet confrontational, Chmury overwhelms and resonates through its sheer expressionist force. The clouds here aren’t mere white dappling on a skyline, rather Kryzanowski imbues them with a sovereignty and energy all of their own. At the far right the smeared brushstroke cumulus appears not only to leap higher, but also to have taken some of the sky with it, ripping the canvas edge to reveal a foundation brown underneath.Whilst down on the left, a cloud seems to have collided with the ground, trapping itself against the foundation and intermingling with dirt. The use of colour is tremendous, with the blue sky tide-like in its subtle depth and change. The horizon too is executed masterfully, as pink sunset drifts hover and mingle against the more assured tones of the floor. Through the near mythic shapes above, Kryzyanowski captures that staggering feeling of reverence felt when staring skyward at moving kingdoms of cloud. Indeed, looking at them quickly becomes a reflective experience, one which like in real life, becomes suggestive in of itself of shapes and patterns. Perhaps in the hollow pocket of the towering left vapour a bird can be seen shilouetted and perched? Maybe the right clump evokes an eagle of sorts, soaring upward on its wide opened wingspan? Who knows? This is, after all, part of the beauty and enjoyment of painting. The sense that our own interpretation is as individual and cultivated as the faces that we often see high up in the clouds, but that others refuse and contradict. [https://kweiseye.wordpress.com/2014/10/04/konrad-krzyzanowski-1872-1922/]
Uploaded on Feb 13, 2018 by Suzan Hamer

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