Antoni SUCHANEK (1901-1982), Ruins of destroyed Warsaw - Swietojanska Street, 1945

Autolithography, paper; 26.5 x 31.5 cm (in light of passe-partout);
inscribed on stone l. d. : "Warsaw / 1945 u ul Świętojańska";
signed in pencil below image.
Edition of 300 copies. Warsaw 1945.
Glosa : Antoni Suchanek studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in 1917-22 under Józef Mehoffer and Teodor Axentowicz, and then in Bydgoszcz under Leon Wyczółkowski. Since 1925, he often stayed in Orlowo, at the same time running a studio in Warsaw. He was one of the founders of the Circle of Polish Marine Artists, as well as chairman of the Visual Arts Section of the Maritime and Colonial League. In 1926 he was a co-founder of the Union of Pomeranian Artists, and in 1937 of the ZZPAP in Gdynia. He was closely associated with Warsaw's Zachêta, where he hosted exhibitions from 1937 until the outbreak of war. During World War II he was imprisoned in a concentration camp. In 1946 he returned to Gdynia and settled in Orlowo. He created a chronicle illustrating the rise from the ruins of the destroyed city (the series "Shipyard Builds"). He was an active participant in artistic life in the Tri-City, which resulted in the creation of the Group of Polish Marine Artists in the artistic cafe Cyganeria. He was supported in this by Marian Mokwa. He painted illustrations for many magazines published on the Coast.