Jan Szancenbach, STILL LIFE WITH PATTERN OF Fruits

75.0 x 85.0cm - oil, canvas signed p.d.: Szancenbach

His painting is a kind of diary of an optimist, for whom the visible world is worthy of being fixed on canvas, and art is worthy of living up to the magnificence of the world. The wonder of nature and the wonder of art should be worthy of each other, Szancenbach seems to say with every painting. Therefore, the essence of his painting is, above all, harmony. (...) Another thing is that Szancenbach could find harmony in art rather than in the real world. It is no coincidence that his still lifes - arranged by the will and hand of the painter - are the most harmonious.... Thus, in a way, each painting beautifies the real world, raises it from the ordinariness of everyday existence to the festivity of the painterly image. The garden is more colorful, the interior is illuminated by the sun, the fruits in the basket and the flowers in the vase radiate with the glow of eternal freshness.

T. Nyczek, Shapes of harmony, in Jan Szancenbach. Painting (cat.), ABC Gallery, Poznań 1996, p. 21.

♣ to the price auctioned, in addition to other costs, a fee will be added, resulting from the right of the artist and his heirs to receive remuneration in accordance with the Law of February 4, 1994 - on Copyright and Related Rights (droit de suite)

Jan Szancenbach (Krakow 1928 - Krakow 1998) studied from 1940 to 1942 at the Kunstgewerbeschule (i.e. the Academy of Fine Arts relegated by the occupying forces to the role of a vocational school) under Stanislaw Kamocki, Jozef Mehoffer, Andrzej Jurkiewicz, among others. After the academy was closed, he worked for a living and studied independently from 1942 to 1945. In 1945 he was re-admitted to the second year of his studies, which he completed under the direction of Eugeniusz Eibisch in 1948 (he received his diploma in 1952). From 1948, he worked as an assistant in his home studio and in Ludwik Gardowski's studio of lettering and graphic design. He progressed through all levels of his academic career, from assistant to full professor (since 1986). Since 1972 he held his own chair at the Faculty of Painting. From 1987 to 1993 he served two terms as rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. As a painter, he remained faithful to the school of Polish Colorism, the principles of which he assimilated during his studies with Eibisch. His painting is full of light and saturated colors, joyful, even feverish. In addition to outstanding color qualities (especially in reds, the painter achieved an extraordinary scale of varieties and shades), he does not shy away from decorativism, which together make up a hedonistic, carefree expression. Known primarily as a creator of still lifes, landscapes, and garden scenes, Szancenbach was also involved in monumental painting. Among other things, he worked on the renovation of the Słowacki Theater in Cracow and the auditorium and plafond of the Wrocław Opera House. Another strand of his art was graphic design (trademarks, posters, covers, packaging, labels, postage stamps, etc.), and he was also involved in book illustration and cartoon film.