01 work, The Art Of The Nude, Wlastimil Hofman's Female Nude on the Ladder, #243

Wlastimil Hofman (1881 - 1970)
Rabuś and Maciuś/ Female Nude on the Ladder, c. 1925
Oil on canvas
198 x 98 cm
Private collection

Sold for  for 52,550.86 US$ in March 2022

The naked woman shown on the ladder in a cheeky gesture places a small, defenseless kitten under the dog's nose. Which one is Robber and which one is Maciuś? It's hard to say today. The ladder itself in the art of symbolism carried many hidden meanings in its structure. It seems that in spite of the painter's passion to reveal hidden meanings and allegories, here we are dealing with a relatively trivial, anecdotal situation. More on this painting

Wlastimil Hofman (27 April 1881 – 6 March 1970) was born in Prague. In 1889 Vlastimil's family moved to Kraków in Polandl. In 1896, he became a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he studied under.

In 1899 he went to study painting in Paris. In 1902 he had his first showings in an exhibition by the "Sztuka" society. Further exhibitions followed in Munich, Amsterdam, Rome, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Warsaw. In 1907 he was the first Polish painter to be made a member of the Gallery of the Vienna Secession. When his professor, Jacek Malczewski, was appointed the Rector of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts in 1912, Hofman obtained a teaching post there.

In September 1939 Hofman fled from the Nazi invasion. He managed to avoid Soviet captivity, though in Pomorzany he witnessed Polish soldiers being deported to camps inside Soviet Russia. He reportedly "showed the Polish POWs a lot of compassion and tirelessly painted their portraits on small pieces of cardboard. The portraits were then to be sent to their families." 

Hofman returned to Kraków in June 1946. In the period 1953–1963 he produced religious paintings for the local church, including "Four Evangelists", "The Way of the Rosary", "The Way of the Cross", "The Adoration of the Child". He also produced many portraits of local people, sports figures - especially footballers from his favourite Wisła Kraków team - and also self-portraits. In 1961, he was awarded the Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Wlastimil Hofman died on 6 March 1970. More on Wlastimil Hofman


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01 work, The Art Of The Nude, Wlastimil Hofman's Female Nude on the Ladder, #243

Wlastimil Hofman (1881 - 1970) Rabuś and Maciuś/ Female Nude on the Ladder, c. 1925 Oil on canvas 198 x 98 cm Private collection Sold for  f...