Dimensions: 48 x 36 cm
Signed p.d.: 'Jan Rubczak'
Origin:
private collection, Poland
Biography
Began his artistic education in 1904-11 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, initially under the direction of Florian Cynk, then in the graphic studio of Jozef Pankiewicz. He honed his workshop skills in Paris in 1908-09, and extended his studies at the Akademie für Graphische Künste und Buchgewerbe in Leipzig and the Académie Colarossi in Paris, where he settled for many years in 1911. He became one of the founders of the Society of Polish Artists in Paris, constituted in 1911. In 1915 he became a member of the Polish Literary and Artistic Society. His art was promoted by the well-known Parisian art dealer Leopold Zborowski. In 1917 he opened his own printmaking school in Paris; he encouraged Wladyslaw Skoczylas and Franciszek Prochaska to master printmaking techniques. His imaging motifs were provided by his stays in Rouen and Chartres, the towns of Normandy, Brittany and southern France, as were his trips to Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. After returning to Krakow in 1924, he took up teaching work at Ludwika Mehoffer's Free School of Painting and Drawing. In 1931-32 he served as an assistant in the Department of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts, headed by Jan Wojnarski. He belonged to the Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka", with which he exhibited in Budapest (1910), Lviv (1911) and Warsaw (1912 and 1923); he also took part in the expositions of the Formists grouping held in Krakow (1917), Lviv (1918 ) and Paris (1922 ). In 1925 he became a co-founder of the Artists' Guild "Jednoróg". At the General National Exhibition in Poznań in 1929, he was awarded the Grand Silver Medal. He exhibited extensively in Paris participating in the Salon d'Automne (1911-13) and Independant (1912), showing his work at Galerie Barbazagnes (1920) and Galerie du Musée Crillon (1921, 1922, 1924). He also joined an exhibition of Polish artists living in Paris, organized in 1912 in Barcelona at Galeries José Dalmau. He also exhibited his art in Vienna, Helsinki, Prague, Brussels and Buffalo. Rubczak's painting work was inseparable from French Post-Impressionism promoted on Polish soil by Jozef Pankiewicz.
