Zbigniew LENGREN (1919 - 2003), Professor Filutek on a walk with his dog Filus

Ink, watercolor, paper; framed: 32 x 33 cm; in st. p-p: 19 x 22 cm
Signature, p.d.: Lengren
Provenance: private collection Gdansk

Polish satirist, graphic artist and cartoonist, author of caricatures, aphorisms and epigrams, as well as posters, book and press illustrations and theater stage designs. One of the pioneers of postwar newspaper comics in Poland. Beginning in 1946, he collaborated with the weekly Przekrój, where he published a cult cartoon series featuring Professor Filutek and his dog Filus - the first episode appeared in the 147th issue of the magazine in February 1948.

The start of his studies was hindered by the outbreak of World War II. Called up to the Polish Army, he took part in the defensive war, during which he was taken prisoner by the Germans. He spent the rest of the war in German POW camps and prisons. After the war, in December 1945, he returned to Toruń, where he began studying painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Nicolaus Copernicus University.

At the request of Polish children, he was awarded the Order of the Smile. He was also the recipient of a caricaturist's award, the Golden Pin with a Laurel in 1988.