Seascape from Połąga 1908

Leon Wyczółkowski painted this seascape from Połąga in oil on wood. The work's unadorned style and naturalistic subject link it to wider European trends of modern art. The painting depicts a tranquil scene on the Baltic coast. Wyczółkowski worked at a time when Polish national identity was intensely debated. With no sovereign state, partitioned between Russia, Prussia, and Austria, Polish artists sought ways to express their cultural identity through landscape. Połąga, now Palanga in Lithuania, was then a popular resort for Polish elites. Wyczółkowski's choice of this location suggests an interest in representing a space of leisure and national gathering. This painting offers us an opportunity to consider the ways in which artists working in Poland engaged with modern European painting. To fully understand it, we might also look into the cultural history of Polish seaside resorts and the artistic debates of the time.