Leonard Pękalski (1896 Grójec - 1944 Warsaw), "Portrait of Miss Krystyna Grajnert," 1940s.

Provenance
collection of the family of the portrayed, Warsaw

Exhibited
Leonard Pękalski 1896-1944. posthumous exhibition, Union of Polish Artists, Warsaw District, March-April 1969

Literature
Leonard Pękalski 1896-1944, catalog of posthumous exhibition, Union of Polish Artists, Warsaw District, Warsaw 1969, cat. no. 294

Biography
A pupil and collaborator of Edward Trojanowski in 1913-18, he graduated from the Municipal School of Decorative Arts and Painting in Warsaw in 1918. He worked on the conservation of polychromes at the Castle in Lublin. In 1924-28 he was an assistant to Felicjan Szczęsny Kowarski at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. At that time, under the direction of Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, he worked on the conservation of friezes at Wawel Castle. He was a member of the Jednoróg Artists' Guild, then of the Pryzmat grouping. He traveled to Italy, France and England. Since 1928 he was an assistant and professor at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. He presented his works in many group and individual exhibitions. In 1969, a retrospective exhibition of his work was held in Warsaw. He created landscapes, still lifes and portraits in oil, gouache and drawing. His artistic path led from monumental painting - an interest he picked up during his college years - through formalism to colorism.