Among Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz's artwork, his self-portraits are considered extremely important. They reflect the artist's aloof attitude of himself. They also show, in a most complete way, the duality of the human image, which was typical of Witkacy's literary and painting work. In his self-portraits, he attempted various transformations of his own image, often using different costumes and stage props. Witkacy often experimented artistically with his self-portraits, and this sometimes involved the intake of narcotics. The purchased self-portrait is one of such pastel drawings and belongs to what Witkacy coined his "Type C" portraits (the artist divided his portraits into "types" and considered "Type C" to be priceless and "close to the pure form").
This work of art was acquired from the heirs of Modesta Zwolińska, one of Witkacy's closest friends from his Zakopane social circle. It has been displayed at exhibitions in many Polish museums and described as well as reproduced in literature devoted to Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz.
