Death of an Artist by Andrychiewicz: Death Plays the Violin

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Death plays the violin

In a cold attic studio, a young artist lies dying in bed. Beside him, a dark figure sits on a chair, playing the violin. The figure is Death, his last friend. The Polish painter Zygmunt Andrychiewicz painted the scene in 1901. It belongs to the National Museum in Warsaw.

A skeletal musician

Death, bald and skull-like, playing the violin — Death plays the violin.

Death, with a bald, skull-like head, wears a long coat and plays gently. The scene recalls the old theme of the Dance of Death, but here Death comes quietly, almost kindly.

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Death of an Artist: The Last Friend, painted by hand

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The young artist in bed

The pale artist in bed under a red blanket — The dying artist.

The artist lies pale under a red blanket, listening. Papers and drawings are scattered on the floor.

A lamp glowing on the bedside table — The lamp.

A lamp glows on the bedside table, the only warm light in the room.

A garret studio

Skylight, easel and plaster bust in the studio — The garret studio.

A skylight, an easel and a plaster bust show that this is a painter’s studio, the poor artist’s garret of nineteenth-century legend.

Zygmunt Andrychiewicz

Zygmunt Andrychiewicz (1861 to 1943) was a Polish painter who worked mainly in Warsaw. He painted genre scenes, portraits and symbolic subjects, and was active in Warsaw’s artistic life around 1900. His work reflects the Young Poland movement, which combined Symbolism, emotion and an interest in death, dreams and the inner life.

Death in Symbolist art

Around 1900, artists across Europe were fascinated by death, often shown as a figure who visits the living. Arnold Böcklin painted himself with Death playing a fiddle in 1872, a famous image that may have inspired Andrychiewicz. In Andrychiewicz’s painting, Death is not terrifying but gentle, a friend who accompanies the dying artist in his last moments.

The myth of the poor artist

The image of the starving artist in a garret was a powerful myth in the nineteenth century, popularised by novels and operas such as La Bohème. The artist sacrifices comfort for his art and dies young, unrecognised. Andrychiewicz’s painting draws on this romantic idea, giving it a moving, melancholy form.

Music and death

The violin connects the painting to a long tradition of the Dance of Death, where Death plays music to lead people away. The soft music suggests comfort rather than fear. In the dim room, the lamp’s glow and the quiet melody create an atmosphere of peace.

Where to see it

Death of an Artist: The Last Friend belongs to the National Museum in Warsaw. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. You can also read about Simberg’s The Garden of Death, another gentle vision of death from the same period.

Questions about Death of an Artist

Who painted it?

The Polish painter Zygmunt Andrychiewicz, in 1901.

Where is it?

National Museum in Warsaw.

Who is the violinist?

Death, shown as the artist’s last friend.

What is the setting?

A poor artist’s attic studio.

What movement did Andrychiewicz belong to?

He was associated with Young Poland, the Polish Symbolist movement.

Which painting may have inspired it?

Arnold Böcklin’s Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle (1872).

Sources and image credit

National Museum in Warsaw

Public-domain reproduction of Death of an Artist: The Last Friend (1901). Detail images are crops of the same image; no reconstruction or upscaling.