2025
oil on canvas
60 x 60 cm
Starting bid: 5 000 zł
Through her work, Helena Stiasny attempts to empower the female subject, making her the protagonist of the narrative rather than an object of desire. Mała krągłość (Small Round) was created following the artist’s visit to the Wallace Collection in London. The work engages in a dialogue with the museum’s Rococo paintings, which boldly and playfully explore female sexuality. The composition is pared down, focusing on a fragment of the female body. The model’s gaze—so often a central element in portraiture—is here only indirectly present, signified by a pair of glasses set aside. Their distinctive shape suggests the woman is not an anonymous subject, even though her face remains unseen; the glasses imply she has momentarily removed them to rest her head on the pillow in ease.
The title refers to a larger theme recently explored by Stiasny—The Great Round, a concept associated with archetypal femininity and its maternal dimension. By contrast, Mała krągłość suggests a young woman on the cusp between girlhood and womanhood. As the artist herself notes, the painting is a meditation on her own body and identity—as girl, woman, and lover.
Helena Stiasny (b. 1997) is a painter and illustrator. She graduated with distinction from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 2020. Her works have been shown in both Polish and international exhibitions, including at the Institut Polonais de Paris (2024), the Royal Castle in Warsaw (2023), and the Every Woman Biennial in London (2021). Her paintings are part of numerous collections, including the Leif Djurhuus Collection, the Bech Risvig Collection, the Kowitz Family Foundation, the Borowik Collection, and the mBank Art Collection. She has received multiple distinctions, including from Kompas Młodej Sztuki (2022–2024), the LOOSTRO Autumn Salon of Art (2023), and the VeniceLands ArtPrize (2019).
