Interior with Open Door

Janusz Kaczmarski

  • type of object: painting
  • date: 1978
  • material/technique: oil on canvas
  • dimensions: 81 x 81 cm
  • inventory No.: M-156
  • image licensed under: CC BY-SA

Using several objects and a fragment of interior architecture, Kaczmarski creates a symbolic scene typical of his oeuvre, rooted in the history of figurative painting and at the same time part of the painter’s contemporaneous hyperrealism. The carefully composed and painted fragment of reality is in and of itself a study in light and colour. Although there is no one in the interior, human presence is suggested — most certainly someone (likely the artist himself, who has painted many self-portraits) was sitting in the chair a moment ago and has perhaps left the room after opening the suitcase. Or perhaps it is the opposite — they will enter the room through the open door and begin preparations for a journey. The ball visible in the foreground, one of the key props in the scene, ‘ringing’ with colour and the perfection of the spherical shape, brings to mind the Earth’s globe, and at the same time the motif of travel — with no specified direction or objective. The suitcase and the ball are always a figure of the baggage of life experience.



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 The Red Armchair
    The Red ArmchairJanusz Kaczmarski1978

Other works from this category

  • Zdjęcie pracy Still Life with Bottles
    Still Life with BottlesJacek Sienicki1961
  • Zdjęcie pracy Huta Katowice I
    Huta Katowice IAndrzej Strumiłło1976
  • Zdjęcie pracy Interference - Target III
    Interference - Target IIIJan Ziemski1974