Sketch to ‘The Poisoned Well’ 1903

Jacek Malczewski made this oil sketch to ‘The Poisoned Well’ in 1903. What's striking is how Malczewski allows the process of painting to remain so visible, the layers of paint and underpainting still showing, not trying to hide the working of the piece. I love how the earth tones and hazy light give it this really dreamlike, melancholic feeling. It feels like a memory half recalled. The paint isn't too thick, more like translucent washes pulled across the surface. You can almost see the ghost of earlier marks beneath, adding to that sense of layering and time. Look at the figures at the front, they’re smudged and blended, as if still emerging from the mist, not fully formed. I’m reminded of Odilon Redon, who similarly embraced ambiguity, suggesting rather than describing. For Malczewski, like Redon, it’s this sense of possibility, of not knowing, that gives the work its power.