Description:
Wacław Radziszewski (1880 – 1914) studied at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts in the studio of Józef Unierzyski after graduating from the Real School in Stanisławów. Around 1909 he was in France. However, he permanently lived in Lviv. He exhibited his works in the local and Krakow Society of Friends of Fine Arts. In his creativity he was engaged in both painting and graphics. He designed posters and stained glass windows*.

Piaskarzy z Lovrana (Sand Makers from Lovrana) Raczyński purchased in 1909 at the Krakow Society of Friends of Fine Arts, during one of the largest exhibitions of Radziszewski’s paintings. This painting was painted during the artist’s stay in France around 1909. The bold colour palette and the synthetic approach to the presented scene may indicate the artist’s encounter with Fauvism there.

Description of the painting:
The painting depicts two men at work. The figures placed at the edges of the picture field occupy almost the entire height of the elongated canvas. The man on the left is shown with his back to the viewer in a knee-length shot. He is dressed in green trousers, a yellowish shirt and a gray cap. With his hands resting on his hips, he watches the work of the other sand maker. He is shown in the same shot, but facing the viewer. His costume, whose parts are difficult to distinguish, is in shades of yellow and green. He has a blue cap with a visor on his head. In his hands he holds a shovel which he uses to scoop up sand. The men are shown against the backdrop of a vast body of water, perhaps the northern Adriatic (Lovrana). The intense color of the water in the upper part of the picture transitions into a strip of gray, which may suggest the shoreline. The picture is closed by a strip of purples which gives the impression of a sunset sky.

The painting appears to be created under the influence of Fauvism. The composition is poor in details, synthetic, while the painting is rich in texture, which the artist gave by applying thick strokes of paint. The color palette in the work is intense, the exaggerated colors contrast with each other. The artist operates with areas of color, in which different shades interweave, creating individual parts of the composition. Predominant are the shades of yellow and blue. It seems like the theme of the work is secondary. At the forefront stands out the play of colors and the expressive texture of the work.