Narcotics and Commissioned Creation – the S.I. Witkiewicz Portrait Painting Firm "I’ll paint a full-size portrait for 100 złotys. My poverty and my art will end, and my life as well." Letters to Leon and Władysława Reynel, 1919-1925 Witkacy mockingly announced his retirement from exploration in the visual arts in 1924, in favor of painting commissioned portraits. He ironically rebranded these paintings, which provided his economic sustenance, founding the S.I. Witkiewicz Portrait Painting Firm with the motto: "The customer must always be satisfied". Several grades of portrait were offered, from the merely representational to the more expressionistic and those assisted by narcotics. Many paintings were annotated with mnemonics listing substances taken during a portrait session, even if this happened to be only a cup of coffee. [http://culture.pl/en/article/an-alternative-biography-of-witkacy]