There is an anecdote that Jan Styka, Tadeusz's father, appeared to the Virgin Mary and rebuked him: "Styka, you do not paint me on your knees, you paint me well". The conversation between the muse and the artist is sometimes the key to the work. What did Pola Negri say to the portraitist, Tadeusz Styka, when he was immortalising her? The details of the conversation were taken to the grave by both of them. All we know is that they met at least twice, and the effects of their collaboration can be admired both in Warsaw and in distant Texas.

Meeting of Pola Negri and Tadeusz Styka
Tadeusz Styka (1889-1954), son of the painter Jan Styka, gained fame in Poland and around the world for his artistry as a portraitist. He was posed by, among others: Enrico Caruso, the singer of all time, his main operatic rival Fyodor Shalapin, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, as well as actresses Dolly Gray, Marion Davies, Jayne Manners, or politicians with Ignacy Paderewski and Franklin D. Roosevelt at the forefront. For us, however, Tadeusz Styka is above all the author of two portraits of one of the most famous Polish women of all time - Pola Negri, or Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec.

Although here art history plays a trick on us. In the popular consciousness, fed with copies of the actress's image reproduced on postcards, posters, soaps and chocolates, there is only one portrait, depicting a dark-haired lady in an eticola draped over her half-naked back.
Of course, such an image exists; moreover, Negri was happy to be photographed with it, which suggests that she must have been pleased with it. Nevertheless, perhaps in fear of the impending Second World War, she donated it to the National Museum in Warsaw, where it is still on display today.

The story of the second portrait, by Styka, turned out to be more intricate.

Tadeusz Styka and "Portrait of Pola Negri" from San Antonio
The dates of the two paintings are similar. "Pola in Fur" was completed before 1930, while the so-called "Emerald Pola" was completed exactly in 1924, when Apolonia Chałupiec posed for Styka in an emerald, flowing, long dress with a large neckline and a matching surplice trimmed with brown, luxurious fur. The attention is drawn to a gold ring with most likely an emerald eye. Legend has it that the actress had precious stones the size of a golf ball in her collection.

The image itself is rather sparing here. Longer than usual dark hair, a pale face with thin, heavily defined eyebrows and red lips. Also red are the nails with which the model holds up the halves of her dress. The background of the portrait is monochromatic. Both the pouf on which the portrait sit and the plane behind her back are painted in ochre.

Styka specialised in sensual, if somewhat unrealistic portraiture of women. "Emerald Fields" draws attention with its gaze directed at the viewer, and at the same time delights in the variety of textures and the precision of the shades rendered by the painter. The will, read after Pola Negri's death in 1987, included a provision for the painting to be donated to the San Antonio Museum of Art, with the remaining memorabilia to be distributed between the Louis J. Blume Library and Trinity University in San Antonio. In addition, the actress secured funds so that the university could award an annual art scholarship in her name.

Apolonia Chalupiec, or the famous Pola Negri
Apolonia Chałupiec (Chalupec) was born around 1896 in Lipno in the Dobrzyń region. Her father was Slovak and her mother Polish - this much is known for sure. Everything else is more or less made up, most likely by the actress herself. She recounted, for example, that her father had been deported to Siberia for his political activities, although in fact he was most likely just a crook. After he passed away, little Pola and her mother, Eleonora Kiełczewska, who accompanied her all her life, moved to Warsaw. There, the girl took her first ballet and acting lessons and honed her talent on the capital's theatre stages.

The actress's cinematic debut came in 1914. The film Slave of the Senses proved to be a huge hit and became her ticket to international fame. In honour of the poet Ada Negri (translated into Polish by Maria Konopnicka), Apolonia Chałupiec adopted the pseudonym Pola Negri and first conquered Germany, before arriving in the United States in 1923, where she remained (with interruptions) for the rest of her life. It should be noted here that she is considered the first European star in Hollywood.

Negri was a true phenomenon, also by today's standards. Aware of her own beauty and talent, she created not only her acting roles, but also her life. She was courted by some of the biggest names in the world at the time, but it will remain a mystery to Negri what was genuine affection and what was just a marketing ploy.

In the footsteps of Pola Negri in Texas
Pola Negri never returned to her native land, although she visited Europe many times. As long as her beloved mother was alive, the actress lived in a snow-white villa in Los Angeles. Later (after 1954), however, she moved to San Antonio, Texas. This choice was not coincidental, as it was there that her friend, or as some want to call her partner, Margaret West, heiress to the oil fortune, had a family estate. And so the words of a pre-war song by Henryk Wars and Artur Maria Swiniarski came true, with the following hit song:

Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony,

My heart was lost under a spit of land.

Oh, what will it be, Saint Anthony,

When the neighbours find out.

All the 'lost hearts' actually found their way to the town of Saint Anthony in Texas. The climate there was similar to that of California, but living among farmers, away from the film industry and the paparazzi provided both Negri and West with discretion and peace of mind. They settled first in the beautiful Meneger Hotel and then in a stately villa.

After Margaret West's death, the actress moved to a flat on Broadway Street. Here she led such a quiet, scandal-free life that it is only in the last few years that her Texan traces have been discovered, thanks to admirers from Poland. She devoted herself to her day-to-day work as a teacher, even published a guidebook for debuting actors; she also supported Polish émigré communities, contributed to the local church and, worthy of close examination, was said to have donated to a centre for the blind in Laski near Warsaw.

Pola Negri's post-war career
Apolonia Chałupiec alias Pola Negri was one of the most faithful companions of the Tenth Muse. She began as a silent film actress, only to participate in subsequent breakthroughs, from sound to colour films. But her star, never again shone as strongly as it did before the war.

Unfortunately, what we would probably recognise today as her asset - her relatively low, sensuous voice - became an obstacle to further career development. After 1945, she was too tired, and perhaps weary, of the film industry to return to the screens. She succumbed only once, in 1964, and at the request of Walt Disney himself, she starred in Moon Spinner. Interestingly, she was partnered by a live cheetah, which she was also happy to be photographed with off the set.

Pola Negri was often asked about the secret of her longevity - she died at the age of 90, despite a well-known penchant for stimulants and an equally strong aversion to medicine. She would then reply that she wasn't old at all, simply that her friends had passed away.

A great one, she exuded artistic genius and femininity until her last days. Such was Pola Negri immortalised by Styka.