[Self-Portrait, "Collapse, with Lamp", Zakopane]
Witkiewicz was prolific in many mediums, writing plays, novels, and philosophical treatises as well as painting and making darkly brooding photographic portraits and self-portraits. In all his work, he describes a proto-existential sense of the self struggling in vain against the undifferentiated mass of men and the indifference of death; he often turned to drugs to recover this missing plenitude of existence.
Between 1912 and 1913, when he thought he was going mad, Witkiewicz made a series of extraordinary self-portraits and portraits of friends, his dying father, and his fiancée, Jadwiga Janczewska. After this time, his engagement with photography was brief, as he devoted himself instead to literature and painting. He took his life on the day Russian troops entered Poland in 1939–in part a gesture of national solidarity.
Between 1912 and 1913, when he thought he was going mad, Witkiewicz made a series of extraordinary self-portraits and portraits of friends, his dying father, and his fiancée, Jadwiga Janczewska. After this time, his engagement with photography was brief, as he devoted himself instead to literature and painting. He took his life on the day Russian troops entered Poland in 1939–in part a gesture of national solidarity.
Artwork Details
- Title: [Self-Portrait, "Collapse, with Lamp", Zakopane]
- Artist: Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (Polish, Warsaw 1885–1939 Jeziory)
- Date: ca. 1913
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: Image: 13 x 18.1 cm (5 1/8 x 7 1/8 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
- Object Number: 2005.100.899
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
1912
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
1913–14
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
ca. 1913
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
1912–13
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
1912, printed later
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.