Ancient Forest Idols on Polish Soil. Based on the Poem Ja jestem satyr [I am a Satyr] by Wacław Rolicz-Lieder and the Painting Hołd sztuce i muzie [Homage to Art and Muse] by Jacek Malczewski

Grzegorz Igliński

doi:10.31648/pl.4714

Published: 2020-02-071

No. 7 (2019)

Ancient Forest Idols on Polish Soil. Based on the Poem Ja jestem satyr [I am a Satyr] by Wacław Rolicz-Lieder and the Painting Hołd sztuce i muzie [Homage to Art and Muse] by Jacek Malczewski

Grzegorz Igliński

Prace Literaturoznawcze

Section: Patriotism and literature

https://doi.org/10.31648/pl.4714

Abstract

The works analysed in this paper – Wacław Rolicz-Lieder’s poem Ja jestem satyr [I am a Satyr]
(from the volume Nowe wiersze [New poems, 1903] and Jacek Malczewski’s painting Hołd
sztuce i muzie [Homage to Art and Muse, 1910] – relate to the theme of art. They cover a subject
of key importance to the Young Poland movement, simultaneously using the motif of a forest idol
(faun, satyr) fashionable at the turn of the 20th century. The difference between these two works is
not limited to the nature of artistic expression (poetic vision – the painter’s vision). In the poem by
Rolicz, it is narrowed to the individual (the individual’s experiences) – basically, it is the confession
of an individual finding satisfaction in the image of what is native. In the painting by Malczewski,
the perspective seems wider and more universal. The former reveals what could be the source of
inspiration for an artist, while the latter presents what art can aspire to. Regardless of this direction
of influence, both works contain the suggestion that art is conditioned by culture and that it has the
right to bear the mark of “homeliness”.

Keywords:

faun, satyr, nymph, art, music, homeland

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Igliński, G. (2020). Ancient Forest Idols on Polish Soil. Based on the Poem Ja jestem satyr [I am a Satyr] by Wacław Rolicz-Lieder and the Painting Hołd sztuce i muzie [Homage to Art and Muse] by Jacek Malczewski. Prace Literaturoznawcze, (7), 105–122. https://doi.org/10.31648/pl.4714

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