Adam SETKOWICZ

HALKA IN ROZPACZY, 1912 Oil, canvas pasted on cardboard; 37.5 x 28 cm

Signed l.d.: A. Setkowicz 912

Asking price 7000

Estimate 8500 - 9000

Halka - Polish national opera with music by Stanislaw Moniuszko to a libretto by Włodzimierz Wolski. Composed in two versions; a two-act (1848)and, more often performed, a four-act (1858). The best-known pieces are the mazurka from Act I and Jontek's aria from Act IV, Szumią jodły na gór szczycie. The action takes place in Podhale at the end of the 18th century. Halka is a country girl who is seduced by the wealthy master Janusz. She becomes pregnant and gives birth to his child. However, Janusz abandons the young girl to marry a noblewoman who comes from the same social stratum. Desperate, Halka arrives at their wedding with the intention of setting fire to the church, but she is incapable of doing so. She leaves her young child in a roadside shrine and then commits suicide by throwing herself into the river.

Adam SETKOWICZ

1876 Kraków - 1945 Kraków

Studied with Teodor Axentowicz at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow in 1897-98. He painted in oil and watercolor scenes of winter hunting, sleigh rides and weddings. His intimate works reflect the world of old noble customs, and his painting is clearly shaped in the circle of influence of Julian Fałat and Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski.