During the interwar period, Marian Stroński frequently explored folk themes. Painting girls in folk costumes, colorful, embroidered corsets, and checkered or floral shawls allowed the artist to demonstrate his painterly skill and demonstrate his mastery of brushwork and color. With these works, Stroński aligned himself with the trend of Polish painting in the first quarter of the twentieth century, expressing artists’ fascination with the beauty of their native land and the Polish countryside. Marian Stroński’s rural motifs can be successfully compared to paintings by Kazimierz Sichulski, Włodzimierz Tetmajer, and Ferdynand Pautsch. Teodor Axentowicz, the Przemyśl artist’s teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, also explored folk themes. The painting “Girl from Dubiecko” is a true feast for the eyes. A woman, dressed in a black, embroidered corset, a light pink apron, and covered with a colorful, checkered scarf, is depicted against a winter landscape. She wears a light scarf with colorful flowers on her head. Her cheeks are rosy from the frost. The artist used his favorite contrasts in this painting, juxtaposing cold and warm colors: intense red and cool blues. Note the painterly style: the broad brushstrokes in the snow, the thickly painted scarf on the girl’s shoulders. You can feel the softness and warmth of the fabric. The girl was likely one of Stroński’s favorite models. He painted her several times. At the exhibition, we can also see her in a painting titled “Girl from the Dubiecko Area,” hanging to the right of the window.
