Tadeusz Korpal (1876-1961), By the Water, 1969

oil, panel / 80 x 50 cm [clear frame]
88 x 58 cm, dimensions with frame
signature and date p.d.: 'T. Korpal 1969'
inventory number: UK/ms/7/4/2020/b
ORIGIN:
private collection, Glogow
Tadeusz Korpal, born October 13, 1889 in Cracow, died November 17, 1977 there - Polish painter and teacher. In 1909 he began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow under Teodor Axentowicz, Jacek Malczewski and Stanisław Dębicki. At the same time he taught drawing at the Second Real School. In 1914, he graduated and enlisted in the Polish Legions, and was assigned to the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Regiment. Due to poor health in 1915 Tadeusz Korpal was transferred to the Military Department of the Supreme National Committee, where he was engaged in the press and graphics section. After the end of hostilities in 1918, he retired from the reserves and went to Paris to perfect the art of painting. Upon his return, he became a principal and teacher of drawing at a secondary school in Wieliczka. He was very involved in the cultural life of the town, and organized an amateur theater, for which he wrote plays himself, and then directed the organized performances. While living in Wieliczka, he created a lot, painted landscapes, figural compositions, numerous portraits, went to create polychromes and supervise the making of stained glass windows he designed. In the summer of 1938 he returned to Cracow, where he was given a position at the August Witkowski Fifth High School. In November 1939, he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in Montelupich Street, as were other Krakow academics and professors, from where they were transported to the camp in Wisnicz. As a result of the draw, he was released and returned to Cracow, where he became involved in secret teaching. After the end of hostilities, he returned to teaching. Five years later Tadeusz Korpal was removed from his job, the reason being his membership in the Legions, which conflicted with the new regime. He devoted all his energy and time to painting, and presented his work by taking part in many exhibitions, where he presented oil paintings, lithographs and prints.
In the interwar years of the 20th century, themes from the novel Quo Vadis according to Tadeusz Korpal's studies were published on postcards in Cracow.