Dimensions: 72 x 92 cm
signed on the underside: 'ADAM | STYKA'.
inscribed by the author on the reverse of the fragment of the preserved canvas duplicate: 'I certify that this painting is my work | and is preserved in good condition, i.e., that | there is no damage that would decrease its value | Adam Styka | Warsaw 14.XII 942.'
Provenance
family collection, Paris (purchased directly from the artist's studio in 1940s).
Biography
He was the son of painter Jan and younger brother of Tadeusz Styka, an Orientalist painter. He studied mathematics and engineering, and later entered the École Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris (1908- 1912). At the beginning of his career he painted genre scenes, but after a trip to North Africa he painted mainly oriental paintings. He found motifs during, repeatedly, trips to Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Egypt. He exhibited his works mainly abroad, but in the interwar period he also had several exhibitions in Poland, including at Warsaw's Zachęta Gallery. These shows were always very popular with the public, and the exhibited paintings found many buyers. He also painted religious paintings and was involved in book illustration, including designing illustrations for 'In Desert and Wilderness' by H. Sienkiewicz. After World War II, the artist lived and worked in the United States - he painted landscapes and residents of Mexico and Arizona, and especially a lot of religious paintings.
