The sculpture presented in the exhibition was cast in bronze by the artist Sergey Arishchenko in 2010. The composition called “Variation on the Theme of Hoffmann’s Caricatures” is an allusion to the 1821 graphic work “Hoffmann Fights Bureaucracy”.

A lanky character in the uniform of an official or officer rides on a huge cat. On his head is a double-cornered hat. Such headdresses became popular at the end of the 18th century. The figure’s face is clearly marked by a long nose; his feet in boots are almost dragging on the ground.

The sculpture also reminds of the cat Murr, which Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann had in 1818, and of his work “The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr Together with a Fragmentary Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler on Random Sheets of Waste Paper.”

Gifted but somewhat neurotic, Ernst Hoffmann showed his talent as a musician, artist and poet from an early age. He masterfully played the harp, organ, violin and guitar, spoke three languages, and excelled at drawing and composing poetry.

Today, Hoffmann is known as a writer of fairy tales, author of “The Nutcracker”, “The Pot of Gold” and “Little Zaches”. Although he was a talented composer, literary and musical pursuits did not bring him money. The writer had to earn a living by practicing law. He worked his way up from a student of the law faculty of the University of Königsberg to a counselor of the Court of Appeal.

In 1800, Hoffmann served as an assessor at the Poznań District Court. One of his hobbies was drawing caricatures. Public town balls provided him with characters for them. The portraits were a smashing success among Ernst Hoffmann’s friends, unlike the subjects of the drawings, who, upon learning about their satirical portrayals, complained extensively about Hoffmann to the authorities.

Hoffmann had to lose his lucrative position over his caricatures: his superiors discovered his drawings of the local high society and a scandal broke out. In 1802, the overly creative lawyer was transferred as a punishment to the city of Płock.