P. Peracki, *l’aube*

Pen and Indian ink wash with silver highlights on cardboard mounted on paper

Signed lower left, titled in the center, annotated “Op. 3, N3” in the lower right

Peracki was a Polish painter and illustrator who marked the height of Art Deco. Part of the creative effervescence of the early 20th century, he distinguished himself through a sophisticated and decorative aesthetic. The Polish Bakst, his style is characterized above all by a focus on line and chromatic refinement. His most iconic works feature costumed dancers with slender silhouettes. His gouaches, accented with gold and silver, lend a luminous depth and a characteristic theatricality. A key figure in the Polish graphic arts scene, he contributed to major publications of the 1920s, notably the weekly magazine Świat (in 1925), helping to shape the visual culture of his era. Peracki also left his mark on the applied arts through the creation of greeting cards and thematic illustrations, particularly for the Christmas season, bringing his style to a wide audience. Combining the geometric precision of Art Deco with a poetic sense of costume and movement, Peracki remains a leading figure in Polish illustration of the interwar period.

This exquisitely detailed vertical composition is fully in keeping with the spirit of the Roaring Twenties and the rise of the Ballets Russes, blending the graphic style of Art Nouveau with Symbolism in the vein of Aubrey Beardsley. At the center of our drawing, two stylized female figures gaze up at the sky with their delicate faces in a contemplative pose amidst an enchanting nocturnal landscape. The work stands out for the extreme finesse of its ink lines and the juxtaposition of dark hues with silvery and golden metallic highlights. These shimmering accents lend a sparkling luminosity to the costumes and flowers, catching the light in the manner of an illuminated manuscript. The diminutive annotation “Opus” inscribed at the bottom of the page suggests that this composition was likely intended to illustrate the cover of a piano score.