Jan CYBIS. Album of creations

Jan Cybis (1897-1972) - painter and draughtsman, educator and publicist, leading representative of the colorist trend in painting of the 1930s and postwar art. Co-founder of the Capists group.

Cybis honed his painting skills in 1921-24 at the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts in the studios of Jozef Mehoffer, Ignacy Pienkowski and Jozef Pankiewicz. In 1923, he joined the circle of founders of the Paris Committee, derived from among Pankiewicz's students, to join with Seweryn Boraczok, Józef Czapski, Józef Jarema, Artur Nacht, Tadeusz Potworowski,Hanna Rudzka, Zygmunt Waliszewski, Janina Przecławska-Strzałecka, Janusz Strzałecki and Marian Szczyrbula, to leave for Paris the following year and join the branch of the mother school run there by Pankiewicz. He participated in the first exhibition of the Capists at Galerie Zak (1930) in Paris and in the presentation of their paintings at Galerie Moos in Geneva (1931).

During the period of his studies at the Krakow academy, Cybis' interest in the experience of Cubism manifested itself in his painting; influenced by formist experiments, he simplified and geometrized additively juxtaposed shapes, limited the range of colors, and reached for patterns from highland folklore (Composition, 1923; Madonna, 1923). Cybis' mature art, however, derives from French Post-Impressionism.

Cybis' first solo exhibition was held in 1932 at the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Cracow. The artist also presented his works at the Salons of the Warsaw Institute of Art Propaganda and the Cracow Association of Polish Artists. He represented Polish art at the Venice Biennale (1934) and at an exhibition at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh (1938). In 1937 he took over as editor-in-chief of the Voice of the Visual Artists, a magazine that served as a tribune of the Capists and Colorists. In 1948 he was appointed professor at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1973, an annual award named after him in the field of painting was established, which remains one of the most prestigious art awards. (Source: culture.pl)

Published by Arkady, 1984.

Format: 320 x 245 mm, 155 pp.

Hardcover, cloth, minor scuffs and dings, overall nice condition.