Zofia STRYJEŃSKA (1894-1976), Female figure; 1936

Lithograph: w św. p-p: 54 x 40 cm
Signed l.d in pencil: Lithograph Z. Stryjeenska 36
State of preservation: discoloration of paper work combined with p-p
Provenance: private collection Warsaw

One of the most outstanding Polish artists of the 1st half of the 20th century. 1909, she began her studies at Maria Niedzielska's painting school for women. In 1911, disguised as a boy, as Tadeusz Grzymała, she began studying painting in Munich (at that time women were not admitted to the academy there). After a year she was recognized and left Munich. She returned to Cracow. In 1918 she joined the Cracow Workshops as a toy designer and author of graphic tees. From 1921 to 1927 she lived in Zakopane. In 1938 she received several commissions from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Individual presentations of Stryjeńska's work were held at the Warsaw Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts (1919, 1926), Paris's Galerie Crillon (1921), London's New Art Salon (1927), Lviv's Museum of Art Industry (1932) and Warsaw's Institute of Art Propaganda (1935), among others. Abroad, the artist exhibited her works at the Venice Biennale (1920, 1930, 1932) and at exhibitions organized in 1927-39 by the Society for the Propagation of Polish Art Among Foreigners. In 1929 she received a grand gold medal for book illustrations at the General National Exhibition in Poznań, and in 1932 she won a gold medal at the 18th Venice Biennale.