Mieczyslaw Lurczynski (1907-1992), Honfleur, 1975
Oil on panel, 44 x 35 cm (with frame) / 33.5 x 24.5 cm.
Signed in lower right corner.
Seascape from Honfleur, title and date on the back.
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Mieczyslaw Lurczynski - painter, writer, poet. Born on December 14, 1907 in St. Petersburg, to a Polish family. He graduated from the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and quickly began to make a name for himself, both as a painter and as a writer. Between 1930 and 1939, his works were exhibited in many Polish galleries, but also in Warsaw's Zachęta Gallery (1934-1937). During World War II, he was active in the Union of Armed Struggle (ZWZ), then in the Home Army (AK). In 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in Warsaw's Pawiak prison, later sent to Majdanek and then to Buchenwald. In March 1945, during the evacuation of the camp, he managed to escape and reach Hanover.
After 1945, due to the situation in the country, he remained in exile, initially in Germany, where he was active in the Polish community and created a lot. In 1949, at the urging of his friend, painter Stanislaw Eleszkiewicz, he moved to Paris, where he quickly found himself in Polish circles. He became a member of the Société Historique et Littéraire. He was also a member of the French Société des Artistes Indépendants, with whom he exhibited at the Salons of Independent Artists. He also traveled to Algeria, Morocco and Spain - traces of these trips can be found not only in his landscapes, but also in his color palette.
Lurczynski died in Paris, September 28, 1992.