Jan Chrzan

Jan Chrzan (born May 25, 1905, in Piaseczno; died April 21, 1993, in Warsaw) – Polish painter, inventor, organizer, and social activist.

He initially studied at the Konrad Krzyżanowski School of Drawing and Painting and, from 1930, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in the studios of Prof. Mieczysław Kotarbiński and Prof. Tadeusz Pruszkowski. Almost all of his pre-war artistic work was destroyed during World War II. Chrzan actively participated in the Warsaw Uprising, fighting in the Śródmieście district. Under the orders of the Polish Government Delegation, he headed the Art Protection Department for North Śródmieście in Warsaw. Together with Prof. Stanisław Lorentz and Jan Cybis, he rescued art treasures from the National Museum and the Royal Castle.

A devoted social activist, in 1957, Chrzan organized the exemplary Contemporary Art Salon "Art" on Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw under the auspices of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers (ZPAP). He served as the salon's artistic director for 18 years. During the 1960s and 1970s, he co-organized the Warsaw Art Fairs at the Barbican. He was also recognized for his innovative approach to developing an artistic method for crafts training. In 1980, Chrzan was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for his lifetime achievements.

Chrzan participated in numerous group exhibitions in Poland and abroad. Many of his works are housed in state institutions and private collections both domestically and internationally. Notably, he created a collection of over 200 paintings depicting scenes from the Warsaw Uprising, offering a perspective of both an artist and an active participant in the events. Most of these works are now part of the Warsaw Uprising Museum collection.

He also painted landscapes, favorite spots in Warsaw and other cities, still lifes, and nudes. Alongside his preferred oil painting technique, he often used tempera and gouache. His artwork, grounded in realism but expressive in its communication, combines the traditions of Polish colorism with impressionistic accents. On one hand, his works exhibit a thorough study of nature, while on the other, they feature intentional ambiguity and bold experiments with color and texture. Some pieces reveal imaginative compositions and elements added to previously recorded outdoor scenes.