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Stanisław Czwartos – Western riding II, 2026
Western riding II by Stanisław Czwartos is a monumental oil painting in which the artist offers a penetrating reflection on the foundations of European identity. The central motif of the composition is the golden bull — a figure of exceptional symbolic force, combining mythological, biblical and historical references. In Czwartos’s painting, the bull is not merely an animal or a decorative motif. It becomes a carrier of memory, violence, idolatry and civilisational momentum.
The golden bull evokes the founding myth of Europe — the story of Zeus, disguised as a bull, abducting the princess Europa. At the same time, it refers to the biblical warning against the worship of the golden calf: a symbol of idolatry, the loss of spiritual direction and a community’s submission to its own idols. These two orders — the ancient and the Judeo-Christian — are not reconciled here. On the contrary, Czwartos presents them as tense, coexisting structures that continue to shape the imagination of contemporary Europe.
On the bull’s back ride four figures — hybrid characters in whom ancient, heroic facial features collide with Christian heritage. Their tunics are marked with heraldic crosses, evoking the tradition of knightly orders, crusades and the medieval idea of fighting in the name of faith. As a result, the painting becomes a field where conflicting codes meet: myth and religion, heroism and violence, tradition and the modern simplification of form.
Formally, these historical allusions contrast with a modern, synthetic painterly language. The modular treatment of the figures — a distant echo of Andrzej Wróblewski’s work — makes the riders’ bodies resemble geometric constructions. Their torsos, simplified and deprived of full anatomical continuity, appear as signs or blocks inserted into the dynamic rhythm of the composition. The human being is reduced here to a figure within a historical mechanism: at once participant, instrument and victim of civilisational movement.
Western riding II may be read as an image of Europe rushing towards the future while still dressed in the costume of old, often contradictory ideologies. The golden bull moves through space like a mythological machine, carrying riders who seem to be borne by history rather than truly in control of it. This paradox — between movement and inertia, tradition and the loss of control — forms one of the painting’s central tensions.
The work stands out through its powerful composition, large scale and the recognisable artistic language of Stanisław Czwartos. It combines figurative painting with erudite symbolism, resulting in a work that is visually striking and intellectually complex. From a collector’s perspective, Western riding II is a painting of strong presence, high decorative impact and significant interpretive potential.
Stanisław Czwartos
Western riding II, 2026
Technique: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 170 × 190 cm
Category: painting
Art movement: figurative art
