“Erosion of Paradise”: The Child and Fear, as seen in Selected Polish Paintings of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Artur STRUG

Abstract

The aim of the article is a reconstruction of the meaning of selected portrayals of childhood anxieties and fears in Polish paintings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the light of the vision of the child prevailing in the literary fiction of the period.The subject of the analysis are works of Wojciech Gerson, Antoni Gramatyka, Władysław Ślewiński, and Olga Boznańska, whose paintings reveal significant transformations in the artistic vision of childhood anxieties and fears. the child prevailing in the literary fiction of the period. The main problem addressed in the article is analyzed against a broader background, namely, the evolution of the artistic depiction of children and their emotions in the previous epochs.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a growing interest in childhood psychology, which is also reflected in the art and literature of the period. The turn towards childhood problems was derivative of the pressing social issues of the time, as well as a result of the new ideas emerging within the domain of pedagogy. The images of children experiencing fear and anxiety which appear in paintings as well as in the literary fiction of the epoch show that both painters and writers perceived the same functions of childhood fears, which may be seen as an instance of the correspondence of arts in the period in question.