Mela Muter (1876 Warsaw - 1967 Paris), Street / Landscape with River (double-sided painting), 1930s.

Street

oil, canvas, 49.5 × 61 cm unframed

Landscape with a river

oil, canvas, 53.5 × 65.5 cm (light frame)
Signed p. d.: "MUTER"


"Mela Muter admirably contributed to Polish painting through the most conscious assertion of her own personality imaginable "[...] She was above all one of those strong individuals, one of the most outstanding explorers of national art. To this alone she owes the fact that she is counted among the "École de Paris." Thanks to France, she became simultaneously an outstanding representative of 'Art vivant' and a great Polish painter [...]." A. Salmon, Le peinture de Mela Muter, "Pologne Litt&aire" 1933, no. 87, p. 5 (translated from French - B. Nawrocki)

The second painting genre, which - next to portraits, which are a deep psychological study - Mela Muter was fond of, were landscapes. The artist was very sensitive to the sensations provided by nature. She was able to perceive the emotional, almost human sphere of the nature around her. Although she herself stated her attitude to nature as follows: "Beautiful landscapes are so captivating that one feels like recreating them exactly, without one's own processing of them" (quoted by B. Nawrocki, "Mela Muter, her paintings and her models," [in:] "Collection of Bolesław and Lina Nawrocki. Mela Muter," Warsaw, 1994, p. 36 [cat. exhibit]); that said, one cannot deny these depictions a lyrical element. Art critic Mieczyslaw Sterling wrote in the pages of "Głos Prawdy": "In the landscape he seeks the same [as in the portraits] inner truth of things, a deeply hidden character, and often imposes his own spiritual physiognomy on the landscape - sadness, solemnity." (M. Sterling, From the Paris studios. August Zamoyski - Mela Muter, "Voice of Truth", 1929, No. 6, p. 3). Melani's works also include, although much less frequently, fragments of charming streets from Avignion or Paris, among others.

Landscape works, as well as the painter's entire artistic output, received a strongly positive reception among critics: " (...) We admire in Mrs. Mela Muter's will to live and boundless love of nature. Landscapes, figures, compositions painted from nature in Spain or in the south of France, delight us here with the intensity of drawing and color applied in broad strokes, without any painstaking finishing of details. Vibrant motifs are captured in these, quick, synthetic notes, while a fresh trace of the artist's admiration for the eternal wonders of nature remains. How serene it all is, a true celebration of color and sunshine! " (E. Woroniecki, L'Art. polonais à Paris. Petites expositions: [...] Mme Mela Muter au Sacre de Printemps, "La Pologne politique, économique, littéraire et artistique" 1925, sem. I, p. 468).

Attention was also paid to the color expression in Muter's canvases: "while in portraits, in terms of color, the artist rightly limits herself to a certain harmonized range of several colors, in landscapes she dazzles with a wealth of color" (W. Skoczylas, Exhibition of Mela Muter's works with the Zacheta Society, "Tygodnik Ilustrowany" 1923, No. 15, April 7, p. 234).