Zygmunt Waliszewski

Zygmunt Waliszewski (Saint Petersburg 1897 – Warsaw 1936)

Zygmunt Waliszewski was a Polish painter, graphic artist, illustrator, and caricaturist, born in Saint Petersburg in 1897. He grew up in Tbilisi, where he began his studies at an art school under N. Sklifasowski and B. Vogel. At just 11 years old, he was already part of his city's avant-garde. During World War I, he fought for Russia. After the war, he regularly traveled to Moscow, and in the 1920s, he settled in Krakow. From 1921 to 1924, Waliszewski studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow under Wojciech Weiss and Józef Pankiewicz. He then left for Paris with Pankiewicz and other avant-garde members. He joined the Kapist group during his travels in Provence. In 1931, the artist returned to Poland, where he lived in Warsaw, Krzeszowice, and Krakow. He then associated with the Formists. He died in 1936 in Warsaw.
After the war, Waliszewski was inspired by Russian Futurism. When he arrived in France, the painter went to the Louvre to copy the masters. With the Kapists, he took up plein-air painting, creating landscapes and still lifes, but he never abandoned the narrative aspect. In general, Waliszewski composed portraits, genre scenes, and landscapes of rural life. He often inserted a certain irony into his compositions.
He participated in the first Kapist exhibition in Paris at the Zak Gallery in 1930. He then exhibited regularly in Poland. Today, his paintings are mainly held in the National Museum in Warsaw as well as in private collections.