Józef Pankiewicz

Józef Pankiewicz (born in 1866 in Lublin, died in 1940 in La Ciotat) was a painter, graphic artist and teacher. He studied in the Drawing Class in Warsaw under the supervision of Aleksander Kamiński and Wojciech Gerson in the years 1884-1885. In 1886 he began studying art in St. Petersburg. After returning to Warsaw, he created genre scenes in a realistic style and illustrations for newspapers. Together with Władysław Podkowiński, he left for Paris in 1889, where he encountered Impressionism. At the turn of the century, he created symbolic pictures and nocturnes.

During numerous travels around Europe, he painted still lifes, portraits and landscapes in which the influence of traditional Japanese art, the style of Renoir and Cezanne was visible. In 1906 he took the position of professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, and in 1925 he headed the branch of this university in Paris, where he lived (and spent the summer in Marseille). He taught the so-called a group of Kapists (colorist painters). In addition to painting, he also dealt with graphics.

The artist has permanently entered the canon of the most outstanding Polish artists. In 2006, the exhibition 'Józef Pankiewicz. Life and Work ", presenting the artist's output from all periods of his artistic activity.