Antoni SUCHANEK (1901-1982), Ruins of Old Warsaw - portal of the Baryczka tenement house, Stary Rynek 32,1945

autolithography, paper; 29 x 27 cm;
Signed in pencil by the author under the composition and dated and described on the plate.
Edition of 300 copies, Warsaw 1945.
Antoni Suchanek studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow from 1917 to 1922 under Józef Mehoffer and Teodor Axentowicz, and then in Bydgoszcz under L. 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 Mariners, 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 many 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 chronicles 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.