Maja (Maria) Berezowska, PARA, 1961

19,7 x 27,7 cm - ink pen, watercolor, paper

19.7 x 27.7 cm - dimensions in st. passe-partout

sign. p.d.: majaberezowska 61

Maja Berezowska (1897 - 1978) - painter and illustrator - studied drawing in St. Petersburg with Mikołaj Roerich, then studied in Munich and in Cracow with Józef Pankiewicz and Leon Wyczółkowski. In 1916 she made her debut with illustrations to a story by Kornel Makuszynski. She collaborated with many publishers and published her drawings in satirical magazines. From 1924 she belonged to the "Rhythm" grouping. She became famous for her illustrations to Boccacio's Decameron (1930). Around 1932 she traveled to Paris and there established cooperation with French magazines. She had three solo exhibitions in Paris, and her works were in high demand. In 1937 she returned to Warsaw. During the war she was imprisoned in the Pawiak prison, then deported to Ravensbrück. The reason for this was a series of 11 drawings, Love Adventures of Sweet Adolf, published in 1935 in "Ici Paris." In 1947 she returned to Warsaw and placed her drawings in many magazines.