Memories of youth 1890

Jacek Malczewski painted “Memories of Youth” without specifying the date, a scene full of nostalgia. It can be seen to comment on the social structures of its own time. Malczewski was Polish, painting in a Poland that didn’t exist, a nation partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Born into a gentry family, he would have been acutely aware of the social divisions of the time. The Polish gentry often idealised the peasantry and rural life as a source of national identity and strength. This image might, in part, tap into that ideal. We see a young boy herding sheep in the Polish countryside, his clothing simple and worn. He sits on a rough fence. The painting uses visual codes that signal innocence and connection to nature, contrasting with the more formal and urban settings associated with the upper classes. His depiction of youth is a romanticised image. To understand Malczewski better, we might look at histories of Polish nationalism.