Stanisława de Karłowska and Katherine Mansfield – an (un)obvious connection

The article focuses on the links between the life and work of a Polish emigree artist, Stanisława de Karłowska (1876–1952) and the New Zealand modernist writer, Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923). Both women, despite their unquestionable artistic merits, have stayed at the margins of critical attention for quite some time. Nevertheless, while Mansfield has been finally recognized as an innovator and one of the greatest short story writers, Karłowska is still relatively unknown, especially in Poland where her paintings can be found merely in private collections. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to bring the work of Karłowska to the attention of the reader. By presenting her paintings against and in relation to the work of the New Zealand Modernist writer, I want, among others, to demonstrate how much the two women share in terms of their engagement and presence in Modernist artistic life, which in itself is an indicator of their importance and recognition, as well as to point out that the voice of the painter in relation to social criticism was as important as the voice of the writer. In the article, two of Karłowska’s paintings are discussed against the social background and a selection of Mansfield’s short stories.