“I have seen once” – scene by the piano 1884

Leon Wyczółkowski captured this intimate scene at the piano with oils. The act of playing music, of making harmony, speaks to a deeply human desire for order and expression. Consider the sheet music: a score is a set of symbols designed to be interpreted and transformed into sound. It reflects an attempt to capture the ephemeral, to give form to the invisible. This desire mirrors what we see in the earliest cave paintings, the human need to capture and control one’s environment through symbols. The presence of flowers further enriches the symbolism here. Flowers, since antiquity, have been emblems of beauty, transience, and emotional expression. Red flowers, like the ones displayed here, often signify passion, love, or even sacrifice. Their inclusion alongside the music underscores the idea that artistic expression is deeply intertwined with human emotion. Wyczółkowski taps into something primal: the drive to leave a mark and convey feeling. This pursuit of expression reverberates through our collective memory.