Procession, from the series “Children’s poses”

In Witold Wojtkiewicz's "Procession," a peculiar gathering unfolds, dominated by children in fantastical, almost theatrical costumes. The scene is set against a muted, dreamlike landscape, where the figures appear both innocent and unsettling. Notice the delicate, almost fragile quality of the tempera paint, which contributes to the work's ethereal atmosphere. This painting, created in 1908, belongs to a series exploring "Children's Poses," a theme that allowed Wojtkiewicz to delve into the complex, often melancholic world of childhood through a Symbolist lens. The artist, who tragically died young at 29 from a congenital heart defect, often infused his works with a sense of the grotesque and the whimsical, a style that some scholars see as a precursor to Surrealism. Here, the procession itself feels like a ritual or a play, inviting us to ponder the nature of innocence and the shadows that can lurk within it.