Oil on canvas, on the loom a sticker: "JAN KSIAŻEK painting oil 1947 dimensions H 60cm W 50cm Still life with flowers".
Dimensions in frame: 72x63 cm (60x50 cm)
Jan Szczęsny Książek (Krakow 1900 - 1964 Krakow) - Polish painter and educator. He was one of the youngest volunteers of the Polish Legions, no documents have survived to establish the course of his service. In 1920 he began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow in the studio of Jozef Mehoffer, at the same time he studied art history at the Jagiellonian University. In addition, a year after starting his studies, he began working as a drawing teacher in Krakow schools. In 1924 he traveled to Italy, where he visited Rome and Florence, among other places. He was a member of the Grupa Dziesięciu and the Zwornik Association of Artists, founded by brothers Kasper and Stanislaw Pochwalski, Emil Krcha and Kazimierz Rutkowski. From 1927 he exhibited his works with the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Cracow and the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw. During the Nazi occupation, he taught at secret classes. In 1945 he was one of the first artists to have a solo exhibition at the Society of Friends of Fine Arts. From 1946, he was a member of the Cultural Commission of the Provincial National Council for eight years. He taught drawing until the end of his life, and died in 1964. A year after his death there was a solo exhibition summarizing more than forty exhibitions at the Society of Friends of Fine Arts. Jan Ksiazek created using oil, watercolor, pencil and pastel techniques. He painted landscapes, portraits as well as still lifes and flowers. Occasionally he painted architecture, old houses, religious buildings and others. The largest collection of Jan Książek's paintings is in the Zywiec Museum.
