Kwiaty rzucane z rozmachem – Jan Bulas, malarz polnych gigantów

Abstract

FLOWERS TOSSED WITH A FLOURISH – JAN BULAS, THE PAINTER OF WILD FLORAL GIANTS

The paper is an attempt to collect, organise and popularise knowledge about Jan Bulas and his artistic output. The goal is to create possibly the most comprehensive reconstruction of the artist’s biography based on dispersed archival sources. In the course of his research, the author has managed to establish some new facts, including the artist’s exact place and date of death which, up until now, have been incorrectly reported in the literature on the subject. Jan Bulas was born in 1878 and his paintings make him a typical representative of the Young Poland aesthetic. He was a pupil of Stanisław Wyspiański, and his master’s influence is clearly visible in his works. Floral motifs emerge as the dominant theme in his art. Humongous, oversized plants stylized to depict wild flowers  populating Polish meadows jam-pack the space in the majority of his paintings. The paper offers information about the artist’s early life, his acquaintance with Władysław Orkan, his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, and his exhibitions organised in Poland and abroad. Other topics discussed in the article include the artist’s trip to the USA, the first legal battle in Kraków over purely artistic values, as well as press reports connected with this case. Bulas’s most significant work – the wall paintings decorating the interior of the church in Rzepiennik Biskupi, and the story of the artist’s stay in that village – takes a prominent place in the paper. The artist served in the Polish Legions in World War One and, as a result of war trauma, experienced a nervous breakdown and was admitted to a closed psychiatric ward in Kobierzyn near Kraków. He died in 1932. The paper is supplemented with ample iconographic material and a selection of press reports documenting the reception of Bulas’s art in his prime.