One of the most highly acclaimed works in the rich oeuvre of the Czech-born painter. It is a tribute to folk religiosity, a simple yet spiritual statement of an artist who himself was a firm believer and sought contact with God outside the aisles of churches.
'A poem captured through artistic shapes' – this is how Confession, presented at the exhibition of the Lviv Society of the Friends of Fine Arts was described in Tygodnik Ilustrowany in 1906. The work of Wlastimil Hofman, then a 25-year-old graduate of the School of Fine Arts in Kraków, attracted attention. Although some people criticised it (Jan Stanisławski was surprised that in the 20th century one could still paint 'such primitive Christs'), and the church authorities also had comments on its religious message, most reviews were positive. Hofman, following what his master, Jacek Malczewski, taught him, reached for folk motifs that would be recognisable in Poland, saturating them with symbolic content.
The large (140x145 cm), almost square canvas depicts a vast, rural, typically Polish hilly landscape, against which the painter has placed two figures in the centre of the painting. One of them is the Pensive Christ – carved out of wood, a popular iconographic representation of Jesus in a sitting and pensive position, supporting his head with his hand. This portrayal, widespread in the Gothic era, has its roots in the description of the Passion, the 'Waiting for the Crucifixion' scene, but in the following centuries, it penetrated folk art, becoming part of rural devotional practice; it became a popular depiction in woodcuts and folk sculpture, often appearing in roadside shrines.
The second character in the painting is an elderly man, a poorly dressed peasant, who is kneeling by a shrine made of rough wooden boards, inside which there is the carved figure of Christ. The two are leaning towards each other. The peasant's posture supports the impression that he is whispering words of confession into the Saint’s ear. The decaying chapel standing amongst fields and meadows is an unusual confessional where two seemingly equal figures have met. That is because both heroes of Wlastimil Hofman's canvas come from the same poor Polish village. They are like brothers, not only because of the same proportions in which the painter depicted them but also because of their similar, poor image. A barefoot peasant, kneeling on a grass-covered cloak, his feet and hands shabby, his shirt patched. Christ wearing a crown of thorns, carved from wood with a clumsy hand and locked in a flimsy, rotten chapel, belongs to a world that is far removed from the ornate, gilded representations of saints from church altars.
The unusual equality and closeness of the confessor and the confessing person is the main content of the painting. Wlastimil Hofman was himself a deeply religious person and a large part of his rich painting output is based on religious motifs. The artist was particularly enchanted by the devoutness of the villagers, simple and sincere, without the need for ornamental scenery and ceremonies. This is what he showed on the canvas titled Confession. He convinces the viewer that closeness with God is achieved through the authenticity of faith, not learned rituals, and Christ is close to whoever needs him, not caring about the setting and splendour of such an encounter.
Wlastimil Hofman interpreted religious motifs in his own, original way. His Madonna with the Holy Child and St John depicts a highlander girl sitting on the grass in an orchard with two children on her knees. In the painting Our Father, a peasant is praying in his backyard amongst animals, haystacks and farm equipment. In Pieta, portraying a mother with her dead son in her arms, the painter placed the figures in a late autumn landscape on the edge of a gravel road, amongst grey fields and leafless trees. Researchers of Hofman’s oeuvre draw attention to the rather uneven level of his works, which with time began to approach religious kitsch; this applies mainly to those created after World War II (Hofman died in 1970, having painted almost all his life).
Confession is one of the most critically acclaimed works by Wlastimil Hofman. It is a fully original, artistic statement, saturated with personal emotions, but also expressing a certain universal message. Although the way of painting may be influenced by the painter’s teachers from the School of Fine Arts in Kraków, such as Jacek Malczewski, Leon Wyczółkowski and Jan Stanisławski, Hofman also presents his own style here. Wlastimil Hofman’s paintings, especially those painted in the first decades of the 20th century, are simple, legible, full of warmth and unpretentiousness; the stylised approach, drawn from folklore, is not an artificial mannerism but a language that the artist considered the most appropriate to convey his spirituality, religiosity and sensitivity.
A copy of the painting Confession can be seen in the chapel on the painter’s grave in Szklarska Poręba.
Originally written in Polish, translated into English by P. Grabowski, March 2022
