ca. 1931
gelatin silver print, 11 x 8 cm (13.8 x 9 cm),
vintage print

Both the portraits made by Witkacy and his paintings, as well as the self-portraits, are a unique study of man and the endlessness of human types, characters and identity. Witkacy`s works are an effect of his in-depth interest in psychology and philosophy. The photograph featured here dates back to the early period of his collaboration with the well-known photographer Józef Głogowski, who documented the artist`s famous photographic enactments. This photograph, as the other ones in the series, is amongst the most sought-after portraits of Witkacy, and one of the most valuable photographs on the market.
The photograph has been widely exhibited in Poland and abroad, also as a blown-up print (sized 110 x 80 cm) at the show Witkacy. Psychoholism, Bunkier Sztuki, Cracow (2009).
Selected exhibitions: S. I. Witkiewicz. Génie Multiple de Pologne, Festival Witkiewicz, Brussels (1981); Présences Polonaises, Centre Pompidou, Paris (1983); S. I. Witkiewicz. Photographs 1899-1939, Third Eye Centre, Glasgow (1989); Witkacy. Mataphysische / Metaphysical Portraits..., Munich, Halle, New York, Chicago (1997-1998); FACE AU NÉANT, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes (2004).
Major publications: Ewa Franczak, Stefan Okołowicz, Against Nothingness (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1986); FACE AU NÉANT, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes (FAGE, 2004).