[Drohobych]. Bruno Schulz frames one of the illustrations for The Pensioner with a passe-partout and offers it to the actress and reciter Kazimiera Rychterówna, together with a dedication.
The motivations behind the gift are unclear. It is known that Schulz gave Kazimiera Rychterówna his works more than once. In a letter written on June 18, 1938, on her way back to Warsaw, she thanked him “for his kind and zealous help with the broadcast, for his hospitality, and above all for Towarzystwo – for wonderful drawings”. The actress would even create a “Schulz wall” with works in her 1938’s apartment. She proudly showed it to her guests, convinced that the drawings would eventually achieve “great success” also in Paris, where, in her opinion, Schulz would do well to establish some contacts.
The drawing she received from Schulz in 1936 shows the title character of the story when, carried away by the wind, he flies “higher and higher into the yellow, unexplored, autumn skies”. This is one of the three variants of this theme known today, the only one preserved in the original version. The other two survived thanks to the publication of the short story The Pensioner* in Wiadomości Literackie* and in the book Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass*. (sr) (transl. mw)
