Tymon Niesiolowski (1882 Lviv-1965 Torun), Seated nude, ca. 1955.

oil, canvas, 62 × 54 cm
signed l. d.: Tymon
on the back paper stickers:
1) handwritten in ink: Tymon Niesiołowski/"Sitting nude"/ oil - 62 × 54 cm;
2) exhibition sticker: Museum/im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego/BYDGOSZCZ |Author Tymon Niesiołowski/Title Sitting nude/Technique oil/Posthumous Exhibition/Fl. Janina Gardzielewska
Torun/339/66 PZWS 42;
3) sticker from TPSP in Cracow with a description of the painting
Provenance:
- collection of Janina Gardzielewska
- private collection, Poland
Exhibited:
- "Tymon Niesiołowski. Exhibition of Paintings," Palace of Art TPSP, Cracow, October-November 1957;
- "Tymon Niesiołowski 1882-1965: Painting. Drawing. Graphics. Sculpture," Leon Wyczółkowski Museum, Bydgoszcz, September-March, 1966/1967;
- "Tymon Niesiołowski (1882 - 1965)," District Museum, Toruń, October-December 2005.
Reproduced and described:
- "Tymon Niesiołowski. Catalog of the exhibition", Cracow 1957, item 24 (il.);
- "Tymon Niesiołowski 1882-1965: Painting. Drawing. Graphics. Sculpture," Leon Wyczółkowski Museum, Bydgoszcz, 1966, item 66, p. 65 (repr.12);
- "Tymon Niesiołowski (1882-1965), catalog of monographic exhibition," District Museum in Toruń, October-December 2005, p. 114, item 332, p. 241 (ill.).

"The visible or imaginary world is only a pretext for me to create an image. I take elements from the world around me, I bind them into a whole not on the basis of their object-like properties, but rather as a pure construction. Objects and human shapes can be freely deformed if the expression of the composition requires it. I don't always realize what I want my work to look like in its final stage. Once I have a clear vision, even down to the smallest detail. Sometimes I succeed in achieving it, and at other times I change and distort it. A painting for me must be a closed whole in itself, whether linearly treated or chiaroscuro. The composition must be compact and the premise decorative."
Tymon Niesiołowski - artist's statement of 14 II 1957 [in:] "Współcześni malarze polscy", ed. S. Samborski, H. Stażewski, M. Włodarski, L. Grabowski, Warsaw 1957, p. 12

"It is possible that it was Niesiolowski's interest in printmaking that influenced his introduction of contour to painting. This tendency, characteristic of Niesiolowski's post-war work, attracted attention with intense colors, filling in flatly treated figures and objects, whose shapes were surrounded by a dark line. The use of these means, reminiscent of
Matisse's paintings, resulted in a move away from realism toward stylization, emphasizing the sensuality of the nudes."
Małgorzata Geron, "Tymon Niesiołowski's work and the sources of its inspiration," [in:] "Tymon Niesiołowski (1882-1965)," catalog of a monographic exhibition, District Museum in Toruń, October-December 2005, p. 71.

For more than half a century in Tymon Niesiolowski's work, the nude was one of his favorite motifs. The painting presented at the auction can boldly be described as one of the most beautiful postwar paintings in Tymon's ouvre. This extremely sensually framed nude of a redhead is a great example of the best qualities of the artist's painting: harmony and order. The stylized figure showcases the artist's decorative artistry, alluding to the art of Henri Matisse. Here we see a model, sitting with her back to the viewer. The fluidity of her shape is surrounded by a thick black outline - a feature very characteristic of the artist, reminding us of the artist's interest in printmaking, which he has practiced since the post-war era. Her silhouette occupies almost the entire surface of the composition. The decorative background is framed piecemeal, built up with colorful patches of color, strongly contrasting with the woman's pearly complexion.