The Red Armchair

Janusz Kaczmarski

  • type of object: painting
  • date: 1978
  • material/technique: oil on canvas
  • dimensions: 74 x 74 cm
  • inventory No.: M-157
  • image licensed under: CC BY-SA

The main ‘character’ of the depiction, the eponymous red armchair, was painted without being placed in particular architecture, as if suspended in a vacuum. The painter conveys the three-dimensionality of the space using blurred lights and hazy colours. The shadows cast by the objects render the laws of physics real and signify that the armchair and the blue model of the sphere placed in front of it are really standing on the floor. A carelessly tossed tie and handkerchief evoke the figure of an absent man, perhaps the artist himself, so that the entire depiction may be interpreted as his crypto-self-portrait. The model of a globe in the foreground and the repetition of the spherical blue shape in the deeper section of the painting serve here as a ‘relational figure’ — the authentication of the self in relation with another person. Other works by Kaczmarski that lack human figures — such as Interior with Open Door (1978) in the Zachęta collection — also have an existential significance.



Michał Jachuła



translated by Paulina Bożek


Image published as part of the Operational Programme Digital Poland: Open Zachęta financed by European Funds

Other works by artist in the Zachęta collection

  • Zdjęcie pracy Untitled
    UntitledJanusz Kaczmarski1967
  • Zdjęcie pracy Curtain
    CurtainJanusz Kaczmarski1973
  • Zdjęcie pracy Interior X
    Interior XJanusz Kaczmarski1973
  • Zdjęcie pracy Still Life with Vatnik and Helmet
    Still Life with Vatnik and HelmetJanusz Kaczmarski1975
  • Zdjęcie pracy Interior with Workman’s Jacket and Helmet
    Interior with Workman’s Jacket and HelmetJanusz Kaczmarski1975
  • Zdjęcie pracy Contemporary Gear
    Contemporary GearJanusz Kaczmarski1975
  • Zdjęcie pracy Still Life 16/48
    Still Life 16/48Janusz Kaczmarski1976
  • Zdjęcie pracy Still Life 8/76
    Still Life 8/76Janusz Kaczmarski1976
  • Zdjęcie pracy Painting with a Black Apple
    Painting with a Black AppleJanusz Kaczmarski1977
  • Zdjęcie pracy
    Janusz Kaczmarski1977
  • Zdjęcie pracy
    Janusz Kaczmarski1978
  • Zdjęcie pracy
    Janusz Kaczmarski1978
  • Zdjęcie pracy Interior with Open Door
    Interior with Open DoorJanusz Kaczmarski1978

Other works from this category

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    HagarGrzegorz Stachańczyk1999
  • Zdjęcie pracy Flies
    FliesWłodzimierz Pawlak1983
  • Zdjęcie pracy Composition with Figure
    Composition with FigureAleksandra Jachtoma1964