Artwork
Still life with red leaves
Still life with red leaves is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Władysław Ślewiński. It dates from 1900 and is held in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1900, *Still life with red leaves* is an oil painting by Polish artist Władysław Ślewiński. Executed within the post‑impressionist idiom, the work depicts a modest tabletop arrangement illuminated by soft daylight. The composition is part of the National Museum in Warsaw’s permanent holdings, representing a late‑19th‑century turn toward expressive colour and form.
Subject & Meaning
The scene presents a white vase bearing painted blossoms positioned near a window, a green‑tinged wall, and a table bearing a plate with two pears, a cluster of grapes, and branches whose foliage shifts between green, red and yellow. The juxtaposition of ordinary fruit and vivid foliage invites contemplation of everyday abundance rendered with a heightened chromatic sensibility.
Technique & Style
Ślewiński employs a pronounced impasto, laying thick layers of paint especially on the leaves and fruit. The visible brushwork creates texture that catches light, intensifying the saturation of reds, yellows and greens. This tactile approach aligns with post‑impressionist concerns for surface materiality and emotional resonance over strict naturalistic detail.
History & Provenance
The painting entered the National Museum in Warsaw’s collection, where it remains on display. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s effort to document the development of Polish modernism and to preserve works by artists linked to the broader European avant‑garde of the turn of the century.
Context
Ślewiński, a former pupil of Paul Gauguin, was a central figure in the Young Poland movement, a cultural wave that sought to integrate Symbolist and modernist tendencies into Polish art. *Still life with red leaves* exemplifies this synthesis, merging Gauguin‑inspired colour experiments with a distinctly Polish sensibility toward domestic subjects.
Artist & collection
Artist
Władysław Ślewiński (1 June 1856 – 24 March 1918) was a Polish painter. He was one of Gauguin's students and a leading artist of the Young Poland movement.
