Frenzy of Exultations
| Szał (Frenzy) | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Artist | Władysław Podkowiński |
| Year | 1893 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 310 cm × 270 cm (120 in × 110 in) |
| Location | National Museum in Kraków, Cracow |
Frenzy of Exultations (Szał uniesień), or better known as just Frenzy (Szał), is an 1893 painting by Polish artist, Władysław Podkowiński, and is credited as the most famous work in his output. It is considered the first work of symbolism in Polish art, during a period when Poland was partitioned between its neighbours: Russia, Germany and Austria.
The painting shows a naked, redheaded woman riding a black, frenetic horse. The horse reveals its teeth, and its tongue hangs out. Its nostrils are dilated and foam runs from its mouth. The woman riding the horse clasps its neck with her eyes closed, her loose hair fans out and flows upwards to mingle with the horse's mane. The canvas is over 3 meters in height, resulting in life sized figures. This painting is said to depict female orgasm.
The colour range is quite narrow and is composed of blacks, browns and grays contrasting with the white and yellow. The image is divided into light and dark parts. The upper left corner is illuminated, directing attention to a clear figure of a woman and the horse's mouth. The right side of the painting shows whirled darkness in which you can see the horse's hind and tail.
The concept of this work dates back to Podkowiński's stay in Paris in 1889, but the emergence of successive oil sketches and charcoal studies in the second half of 1893 was the consequence of the growing drama of unrequited love in the artist's life. In his vision, Podkowiński elevates erotic ecstasy to an absolute value, regarding it, in accordance with the psychologism current for that time, as the cosmic power and determinant of the human condition. Setting about the execution of the huge painting, he employed the academic method of preparatory sketches that correspond to the final version, while differing slightly one from another in size and colour. Reduced in colour scheme, they range from the ultramarine version (lost), through work enlivened with green, to the subsequent ones, in which intense orange predominates. The avalanche of stones was removed from the final version as well. In comparison with the sketches, the final, monumental composition gained in dynamism and the previously weak contrast of colour intensified to that between golden and black, and the tension between light and shadow was more polarised. This could be an effect of his private life drama and the progress of his lung disease.
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