Maria Ritter (1899 - 1976), Act.

mixed technique, paper, 25 x 20 cm

gouache, ink, paper, 25 x 20 cm; signed in pencil, l. d. bound monogram "MR"

Maria Ritter - Painter and sculptor, also known for her social activities (known as the Sącz priestess of art). She studied philosophy and art history at the Jagiellonian University and then at the Academy of Fine Arts under Prof. Wojciech Weiss, Prof. Jan Wojnarowski, Prof. Xawery Dunikowski and Prof. Jan Koplinski. During her studies, she also took lessons from Ferdinand Léger and Otto Friesch in Paris. After the end of World War II, she was busy creating a branch of the Union of Polish Artists (ZPAP) in her hometown of Nowy Sącz. In 1949, she became a councilor of the Municipal National Council in Nowy Sącz and a member of the Education Commission and the Monument Protection Commission. In 1950 she joined the Polish Committee of Peace Defenders. These functions of the artist to lead, together with a group of colleagues from ZPAP, to the opening of an Art Exhibition Office in Nowy Sącz. Maria Ritter was involved in the conservation of monumental paintings. In her early work she was inspired by realism and impressionism. Later, the plastic focus of her works oscillated around issues of color and composition construction.