Portrait of Wiktor Osławski

This second portrait of Wiktor Osławski, also dated 1890 and held alongside the first in the National Museum in Kraków, raises interesting questions about the conventions of commissioned portraiture in the late nineteenth century. The practice of painting two versions of a portrait — one for the sitter, one for the artist's studio or a family member — was not uncommon, and Axentowicz may have produced the second either as a variant composition or as a practical copy of the first. Comparing the two works offers insight into his working method: whether he significantly varied the pose, lighting, or background between versions, or produced near-identical copies. The Kraków museum's retention of both suggests they were considered sufficiently distinct to merit separate preservation, making them a rare opportunity to observe the artist's approach to a single subject across two attempts.

Where the two Osławski portraits differ — in pose, angle, background tone, or light direction — those differences reveal Axentowicz's deliberate choices rather than inadvertent variations. The second version may show greater fluency if painted after the first, or may represent an alternative solution to the compositional problem the first raised.