Boleslaw Barbacki, ON THE RUINS OF ANTIQUES

41,5 x 31,2cm - oil, canvas signed l.d.: B Barbacki

On the reverse, on all the slats of the loom, stamps of the Cracow depot of painting implements of Rosa Aleksandrowicz; in addition, on two slats of the loom, stamps with numbers referring to the size of the sub-image (respectively): 41 i 31.

Bolesław Barbacki (Nowy Sącz 1891 - Biegonice, district of Nowy Sącz 1941) - painter and stage designer. Awarded prizes and silver medals, he was a student of T. Axentowicz and W. Weiss at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow (1910-1916). After his studies and a longer stay in Austria, he settled permanently in Nowy Sącz. He spent the years 1924-1925 in Paris. He gained recognition and considerable popularity primarily as a sensitive portraitist, valued for his realism in depicting his model. He also painted landscapes, genre and religious paintings (including those for churches). He exhibited extensively - at the Lviv and Cracow Society of Friends of Fine Arts and at the Warsaw Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts. At the Zachęta, he was decorated with medals several times at exhibitions and received an honorary diploma in 1939 for his lifetime of artistic activity. When war broke out he became involved in the resistance movement. In 1941 he was killed by the Germans during an execution in Biegonice.
The artist's paintings are in private collections, in the possession of his family and in the collections of numerous museums. A large collection is in the District Museum in Nowy Sącz. Two of his monographic exhibitions were held there in 1981 and 2001. The artist is still held in high esteem today, both as an exquisite portraitist and as a social activist; Barbacki is, among other things, the patron of a local school. The year 2021, which marks the 130th anniversary of the artist's birth and 80th anniversary of his death, has been declared the Year of Barbacki by the City Council of Nowy Sacz. From April 30 to September 19, one could see in the local museum an exhibition dedicated to him, "Her Portrait. Boleslaw Barbacki (1891-1941)".