Capercaillie turning

One of four paintings by Julian Fałat currently in the possession of the Museum – Castle in Łańcut depicts a capercaillie male in a courting display on a fallen tree trunk, with two females nearby, in a clearing with a forest vaguely visible in the background. Scenes from hunts, in which the painter willingly participated, were a frequent subject of his paintings, at various times of the year and day, in various lighting conditions – here the scene takes place in early spring (from March to May). During the courting display, the male spreads his wings, unfolds his tale in a fan, extends his head, and makes a series of characteristic sounds. During one of them, the whetting phase, the bird goes temporarily deaf for 1.5 seconds (hence the species name translating to “deaf bird” in many languages). Unfortunately, this has contributed to the depletion of the birds’ numbers – hunters could get close to them. Currently, the species is endangered in Poland, although it used to occur in large numbers. Here, as in other works by Fałat, bright colours and his characteristic broad brush strokes dominate, as well as a masterful rendering of the pink sky on the horizon with deep, navy blue shadows in the forest. This impressionistic manner emerged in Fałat’s works in the 1890s, beginning with scenes from hunts and landscapes, also manifesting in the use of contrasts of cold and warm hues, such as the Łańcut painting – warm pinks, red and blue in the sky, as well as the grey and navy blue forest. The painting was exhibited in Krakow in 1917.