An Evening at Jolka’s 

Iwo Zaniewski painted 'An Evening at Jolka's' using oil on canvas. Zaniewski created this piece in Poland in 2007, after Poland had emerged from behind the Iron Curtain, an era when art was heavily policed and controlled by the state. The painting depicts a scene of domestic leisure. We see a woman reclined on a sofa, reading, surrounded by familiar items of furniture, with a view through a window onto a garden. The palette is muted, as if bathed in the yellow glow of electric light, and the forms are simple and blocky. One way to understand this image is as a celebration of the new freedoms afforded to Polish citizens after the end of Soviet influence. The freedom to relax and enjoy home comforts, and freedom from state control, are all subtly celebrated here. The interpretation of art is always influenced by its social and institutional context, and by researching the history of Poland, we can understand this image as a progressive statement about the benefits of freedom.