ART OF THE VIOLIN IN POLISH FINE ART OF THE LATE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURIES (GENRE ART)

Abstract

The article analyzes the plot, thematic, compositional and stylistic features of fine art works of genre art, which comprise violin themes. The article reveals common and distinctive features in the interpretation of musician’s playing this musical instrument by representatives of various artistic trends of the chosen period, and gives reason for their interest in this theme. The purpose of the article is to analyze the peculiarities of depicting violins and violinists in paintings of Polish artists of the late 19th – early 20th centuries in genre art. In accordance with the purpose, using historical, cultural and comparative methods and art review, the task is to single out and study the works of the figures of Polish fine art, such as Antoni Kozakiewicz, Franciszek Streitt, Tadeusz Rybkowski, Wincenty Wodzinowski, Józef Chełmoński, Wandalin Strzałecki, and Władysław Jarocki. The article reveals commonalities in a realistic pictorial manner that emphasizes a social ethnicity of the violinists, each of whom is depicted playing the violin. The study also reveals differences in a compositional structure, experiments with color spectrum, and emotional coloring of characters. The study of the artistic presentation of the image of a violinist and a violin confirms the fact that artists, as witnesses and active participants in the historical period in which they live and create, fulfill an important mission of documenting processes, events, and particular character types as symbols of their times using the expressive means of fine art. This fact is confirmed by the analysis of the images of violinists as representatives of particular social layers within different ethnic groups.