August Zamoyski, AKT, 1924

24.9 x 20.6 cm - pencil, paper pencil, paper, 24.9 x 20.6 cm (in light of passe-partout)

Signature p.d.: Zamoyski | 24

On the reverse near the lower edge (in pencil): own. Z. Kossakowska, at the upper edge: number: 4.

On the so-called backside sticker: AUGUST ZAMOYSKI | Nude, 1924 | pencil | owned by Zofia Kossakowska-Szanajca, Warsaw.

Provenance:

Zofia Kossakowska-Szanajca (1927-2010), from whose collection the offered drawing comes, was an art historian, author of the album August Zamoyski (1974) and the catalog of the exhibition organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of A. Zamoyski's birth (MNW, 1993).

Image exhibited and reproduced:

- August Zamoyski 1893-1970. monographic exhibition on the centenary of the artist's birth, cat. compiled by. Z. Kossakowska-Szanajca, National Museum in Warsaw, Warsaw 1993, cat. no. 111, p. 65, il;

- I. Jakimowicz, B. Brus-Malinowska, Formists, catalogue of exhibitions, National Museum in Warsaw, published by Arkady, Warsaw 1985, cat. no. 1245, p. 80.

Dated 1924, the drawing was created at a turning point for the artist. Between 1918 and 1923, fascinated by Futurism and Cubism, Zamoyski co-founded a group of Formists (initially called Polish Expressionists) with Leon Chwistek, Tytus Czyzewski and Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. In 1923, he made a spectacular break with the avant-garde. In 1924 he went to Paris, where, influenced by new currents, he became a classicist. He began to create more realistic, synthetic forms, with monumental hieratic. The main themes of his works at that time became the nude and the female portrait.

♣ to the auctioned price, in addition to other costs, will be added a fee resulting from the right of the artist and his heirs to receive remuneration in accordance with the Law of February 4, 1994 - on Copyright and Related Rights (droit de suite)

August Zamoyski (Jabłoń 1893 - Saint-Clar-de-Riviere 1970) - one of the most outstanding Polish artists of the 20th century, next to Xawery Dunikowski - the most famous Polish sculptor of the 1st half of the 20th century. He came from an aristocratic family - he was the 12th descendant by marriage of the Ordynat Zamoyski, Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski (1775-1856).

He studied drawing at the Lewin-Funke Schule in Berlin and sculpture at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich. After returning to Poland, he co-founded the Polish Expressionists, the first Polish avant-garde group, together with Witkacy, Leon Chwistek and Tytus Czyzewski. From 1923 he stayed mainly in France, and from 1940-1955 he lived in Brazil. There he ran sculpture schools in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. In 1941, he was appointed professor at the School of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro by Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas. In 1955, he settled in France.

He initially created in the currents of Expressionism, Cubism and Futurism, undertaking bold experiments. He was the first Pole who in the first half of the 20th century began to create sculptures similar to the simultaneous dynamism of U. Boccioni. At that time he was also active in the field of theater; together with his wife, dancer Rita Sacchetto, he co-created Futurist performances. Around 1925, the artist broke with the avant-garde and turned to figurative art. He developed his own monumental-classical style, based on realism with a far-reaching synthesis of forms. In the late 1940s, metaphysical-symbolistic content appeared in Zamoyski's work, while the form became expressive and dynamic.