Polish art abroad. Man and silence in painting space of Robert Bluj

Abstract

This article is the first attempt in Polish literature to describe an artistic output of Robert Bluj, a Polish painter living and creating in Vilna. Saulė Mažeikaitė, an art critic, wrote, among the others, about the artist and his creations in Lithuanian field, emphasizing ‘space and figure’ as fundamental points of reference to Bluj’s painting. Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw influenced substantially on shaping his artistic workshop and subjects’ selecting. Young art student started his academic education in Marian Czapla’s studio. Next he gained experience in workshops of Rajmund Ziemski, Wiesław Szamborski and Edward Tarkowski. Warsaw Academy helped the artist to sense color temperatures and shaped his abilities to build a picture with colors. The form of Bluj’s artistic images became deeper, well defined, clear and more sophisticated in comparison with his pre-academic period. The painter systematically rejected unnecessary decorative effect and overloading. The area of Robert Bluj’s painting experience is close to climate and spirit of Polish neofigurative art. A man in Bluj’s pictures seems to be the most frequently lonesome and alienated – spiritually and physically separated from palpable reality, placed individually or in groups, in empty neutral space. Models of his compositions are recruited from among real persons found among Vilna inhabitants, although he does not try to paint individual portraits. In artist’s understanding, a model becomes an actor, who personates a role appointed by the painter. In majority of Bluj’s compositions, a man is placed in a clearly defined and even particular space. The background in his pictures is spatial, inspired by direct references to architecture. Many compositions include both – open space – in form of schematically outlined gates, doors or window openings, and closed interiors – suggesting a room or a balcony. It is also possible to find a horizon line, although it is not always ‘proper’ towards the foreground male or female figures. It is for Bluj a basic element of context situating the image figure comment. Frequently repeated element defining compositions’ spatial character consists of stones, scattered around surfaces of many images – the most often among human figures – composed synthetically and close to black or navy blue spots.