This Polish Artist Would Consume Peyote, Cocaine, and Other Intoxicants Before Creating Stunning Pastel Portraits – Design You Trust

This Polish Artist Would Consume Peyote, Cocaine, and Other Intoxicants Before Creating Stunning Pastel Portraits

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Self-Portrait, 1938
1

In pursuit of Pure Form, the Polish artist Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz known as “Witkacy” would consume peyote, cocaine, and other intoxicants before creating pastel portraits.

Perhaps it is the main subject of the self-portrait that captures your attention. Debonair in a crisp blue shirt and spotty tie, Polish artist, writer, and philosopher Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) strikes a classic pose: head slightly turned away, steely gaze, half-smile. Or maybe your eyes pan beyond Witkacy to the strangely apocalyptic background — ruined buildings, rendered in smudged grey and yellow pastel, leaching smoke into the air.

h/t: publicdomainreview, messynessychic

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Portrait of Nena Stachurska, 1929. Type “B + d” portrait (a magnifying of character, retaining a prettiness exaggerated towards “demonism”). Caffeine, no alcohol.
2

A prophetic vista, given that the portrait was completed in 1938. Either way, it is easy to overlook the inscription, in the black crayon of Witkacy’s spiky hand, jotted across the bottom of the image: [P + 2NP1]. It looks almost like a signature, a cipher, or a record of ownership. This is Witkacy’s formula for keeping note of the substances he had consumed during the artwork’s composition, and of a previous spell of sobriety. In this case, P denotes “palenia”, or smoking tobacco, while 2NP1 signals one month and two days of “non-smoking”.

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Portrait of Maria Nawrocka, 1929. Beer + caffeine.
3

Under the influence of cocaine, mescaline, alcohol, and other narcotic cocktails, Witkacy prepared numerous studies of clients and friends for his portrait painting company, founded in the mid-1920s; the mix of substances inducing different approaches to colour, technique, and composition. The resulting images are surreal — and occasionally horrific. Heads become disembodied busts, suspended in the night sky. Bodies are transformed into worms. Faces seep down the paper.

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Portrait of Stefania Tuwimowa, 1929. Type “B + E (+A)” portrait (“the composition takes the form of a sketch”, with spruced up and slick execution). Caffeine, no alcohol.
4

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Portrait of Stefan Glass, 1930. Smoking.
5

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Self-Portrait, 1918. Type “D” portrait (executed with subjective characterisation, as if under the influence of drugs, but without “recourse to any artificial means”).
6

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Portrait of Nena Stachurska, 1929. Type “C” portrait (under the influence of “narcotics of a superior grade”). Mescaline synthesised by Merck + cocaine + caffeine + cocaine + caffeine + cocaine.)
7

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Deception of Woman, with Self-Portrait, 1927. The chemical key top left tracks three bouts of nicotine withdrawal and indicates the work was completed during a tobacco relapse. The portrait Witkiewicz holds bears a key for type “D” (approaching “Pure Form” without intoxicants.)
8

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Creating the World, 1921
9

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Green Eye Composition, 1918
10

If you want more awesome content, subscribe to 'Oh, Design You Trust,' our brand new Facebook page! Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

More Inspiring Stories

How Male Beauty Standards Have Changed Over 100 Years
One-Panel Comics Filled With Absurd Situations And Silly Humor By Tom Falco
This Artist Creates Stupid NSFW Comics For People With A Dark Sense Of Humor
A Street Artist Creates Tragic Portraits Across The Abandoned Urban Areas In France
Where’s Waldo Coronavirus Edition Is Here And It’s A Tad Easier To Spot Waldo Than Usual
This Guy Can’t Stop Photoshopping Animals Into The Most Random Things
"Blackest Paint Colored Brush": Suerb Horror, Fantasy And Sci-Fi Drawings Of Christopher Lovell
Acid Dreams: Vaporwave-Inspired Artworks by Angel Acevedo
Anti-Valentine Cards With Weirdly Sweet Messages Will Make You Laugh
This Artist Decided To Paint On Used Tea Bags And It’s Incredible
Mom Prepares Healthy Meals As Cartoon Characters For Her Son
Flying Citroën Cars By Jacob Munkhammar
Stunning Digital Artworks by Richard Kingston
You Think Your Life Is Hard? These Animals Have Real Problems!
Andy Brase's Eerie and Insanely Appealing Graphics
The Internet Browser Series By Mike Roshuk
This Graffiti Artist Makes Walls Appear Transparent Using Nothing But Spray Paint
2501's Murals Project in Los Angeles, California
Exercise Your Demons: Funny And Delightful Illustrations By Randyotter
Braun - From 1 to 12 in Eleven Hours
Casa Rex wins award at HOW Poster Design Awards 2011
Cultural Torture: An Offensive And Ironic Guide To Pissing People Off In Their Own Countries
Artist Inserts The Legendary Grumpy Cat Into Disney Movies
Brilliant Ad Campaign To Raise Awareness Of Harmful Smoking Effects