„...i jak motyle w barwnym ogrodzie...” – uwagi o japonizmie w twórczości Tadeusza Micińskiego

Abstract

Tadeusz Miciński was greatly influenced by the culture and art of the Far East. Many of his works contain references to Indian philosophy and Buddhism. In the paper, an attempt is made to answer the question about the “source and outlet” of Japanism in Miciński’s art. Japanism and japonaiserie became fashionable in the late 19th century and had a noticeable influence on the development of Impressionism and other art movements. Miciński might have encountered objects of Japanese art during his travels abroad. It is known for certain, as evidenced e.g. by Stanisław Witkiewicz in letters to his son, that Miciński saw numerous Japanese artefacts (woodcuts, household items, books) during his stay in Zakopane. At that time, the high society of Zakopane included Feliks Jasieński, who was often called “the Polish Japanese”. Jasieński’s valuable collection of Japanese objects of art had an influence on the work of Stanisław Witkiewicz, notably, on his “Great Wave” cycle of paintings from Lovran. Witkiewicz’s son even studied Japanese for a while. Miciński regularly visited the Witkiewiczes at their home. Japanese motifs appear in the dramatic piece entitled Kiyomori, in poems written as a reaction to the Russian-Japanese war, and in other poems, e.g. Z motywów z Dalekiego Wschodu [From Far Eastern Motifs]. In these poems, catastrophic themes are set in contrast with the hope for a “new life” that Miciński sees in the culture of the Orient.