Dimensions: 49 x 74.5 cm
Signed p.d.: 'MARS'
Origins
private collection, New York
private collection, Warsaw
Biography
In 1927 he began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in the studios of Władysław Jarocki and Fryderyk Pautsch. Two years later he moved to the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw, to the studio of Felicjan Szczęsny Kowarski, from which he graduated in 1934. The first individual exhibition of Witold Mars' work took place in Lviv in 1936, organized by the Society of Friends of Fine Arts there. He also exhibited in Cracow with the Association of Polish Visual Artists and at the Warsaw Institute of Art Propaganda. He was a member of the "Team" group founded by Władysław Krzyżanowski and active in Lviv. During World War II, he fought in the ranks of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, served in France and Great Britain, where he remained after 1945. While living in Scotland, he continued to create, and exhibited his works with the "London Group" and during exhibitions of the "Society of Scottish Artists", at the British Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1952, Witold Mars and his wife Sophie moved to New York, where they settled permanently. While living in the United States he was engaged in illustrating books and magazines, in total he illustrated several hundred items published by major book companies. Many of them received awards and prizes. The largest posthumous exhibition of Witold Mars' illustration works was organized by Lipert Gallery in 1990 at the Kosciuszko Foundation, the exhibition was accompanied by an auction of some of the works. Apart from private collections, Witold Mars' works are in the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Museum in Wroclaw, prints on the Normandy battles are in the Sikorski Institute in London and original book illustrations are in the Kerlan Collection of the University of Minnesota.
