Young Woman with a Cigarette
Young Woman with a Cigarette

Young Woman with a Cigarette

Author: Römer Stefan, 1900 - 1951

Created: around 1930.

Material / technique: mixed technique.

Dimensions: 25x19.4 cm.

Signature: St. Rö (in the bottom-left corner of the painting).

Stefan Römer (1900–1951), supported by his lawyer relative Michał Pius Römer, started his art studies in Prague in 1927. This portrait of a young woman, painted by the 30-year-old student, reflects his impressions of life in Prague. It is difficult to imagine a similar character on the Bagdoniškis estate where he returned to spend his holidays, or even in interwar Vilnius. The model might have been an acquaintance of the artist, dressed up for an evening’s entertainment, although the brightly coloured lips, the smouldering cigarette between her fingers, and in particular the seductively loose shoulder strap, suggest that she and the painter had more than just a friendly or a professional relationship. This work, showing the artist’s acquaintance with the principles of Czech Art Deco, is one of the few surviving works by Stefan Römer. Almost all of his artistic legacy was destroyed during the Second World War in a fire which broke out in his studio in the village of Šašiai near Kaunas.

Reference:  "More Than Just Beauty. The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection." Compiled by G. Jankevičiūtė. Vilnius, LAWIN, 2012, P. 160.

Exhibitions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art; Vilnius  Exhibition of the Fine Arts Collection of Edmundas Armoška "Outcrops of Lithuanian Art 16th–21th Centuries" 2008 July 3 - August 31, Lithuanian Art Museum, Vilnius.

Published: "More Than Just Beauty. The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection." Compiled by G. Jankevičiūtė. Vilnius, LAWIN, 2012, P. 160; "Outcrops of Lithuanian Art 16th–21th Centuries", Vilnius  Exhibition of the Fine Arts Collection of Edmundas Armoška, Vilnius: Lithuanian Art Museum, 2008 Kat. No. II, 46, P. 99; "Kaunas-Vilnius 1918-1945”, The Art collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas. Compilars D. Barcytė, dr. I. Burbaitė. Vilnius, 2021, P.174, 175, 186.