Dimensions: 64.5 x 84.5 cm
Signed l.d.: 'Józef Hecht'.
Biography
Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in 1909-14. After receiving a prize from the Académie des Beaux-Arts, the artist moved to Norway, Italy and then settled in Paris. The year 1926 was a turning point for the artist's artistic career. At that time he published his first album l'Arche de Noë with a foreword by Gustav Kahn. In 1927 Hecht founded the printmaking studio Atelier 17, which still operates today under the name Atelier Contrepoint. In 1929, Hecht founded La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine, a group whose goal was to uphold traditional fine art printmaking in an avant-garde fashion. During World War II, Hecht went into hiding on the Swiss-French border working as an agricultural laborer. After the war, in poor health, he worked on his La Noyee series, perfecting his graphic design workshop techniques. In 1951 he died in his studio of a heart attack.