The painting “The Hutsul Wedding” was painted by Stanisław Sichulski in 1938. Kazimierz Sichulski was a painter of the Young Poland period and the interwar period. He was born in Lviv in 1879. He was educated in Kraków, at the Academy of Fine Arts, by Józef Mehoffer, Leon Wyczółkowski, and Stanisław Wyspiański. In his work, he often explored folk themes, eagerly painting scenes from the life of the Hutsuls, hence being called the colorful illustrator of the Hutsul region. Caricature was also among his interests. Kazimierz Sichulski is known for his satirical drawings depicting figures from the world of Polish culture and politics before World War II. He died in Lviv in 1942. The subject of the Hutsul wedding was a theme the painter explored many times. In the case of the painting in the collection of the National Museum of the Przemyśl Region, Kazimierz Sichulski approached the subject with panache and great painterly freedom. The painting brilliantly captures the colorful attire of the Hutsuls and the wedding customs of this cultural minority inhabiting the mountainous regions of the Eastern Carpathians. The scene takes place in a landscape, by a river, during a cool autumn, as evidenced by the warm clothing of the individuals depicted in the painting, wearing sheepskin coats and woolen vests, moccasins, and high socks. The men wear rolled-up hats—known as krzesania or “krysania”—decorated with colorful sequins and ribbons, while the women wear colorful scarves. The men wear wide trousers, while the women wear white skirts and crimson-orange aprons covering their hips and thighs. The yellowish-orange autumn grasses and trees in the background add a touch of color to the entire composition. In the foreground, we see a wedding procession marching to the left, with the bride, known as the “kniahynia,” seated on a horse in the center of the composition. The woman is distinguished by her white waistcoat and colorful headband with white flowers at her temples. Just behind her, but slightly in shadow, is the “kniaź,” or groom. He also wears the same white woolen wedding waistcoat and a colorfully decorated hat. The bride’s horse is led by a forewoman walking on the right, holding a curved staff adorned with colorful ribbons. Besides the staff, her distinguishing feature is a headband similar to the bride’s. The procession is accompanied by musicians. One of them, playing the violin, can be seen to the right of the forewoman. The procession is led in a dancing pace by the wedding mayor, shown in the lower left corner of the painting, holding a wedding rod—a branch adorned with colorful ribbons, with a korowaj (a type of bread) impaled on it, which the bride and groom will share during the wedding ceremony. Rafters float down the river, and on the opposite bank, people can be seen dancing and waving as they watch the procession pass by.
