Czesław Idźkiewicz (October 21, 1889 – February 1, 1951) was a Polish painter and teacher.

Biography

Idźkiewicz was born in

Różan Różan is a town in Mazovian Voivodeship, northeastern Poland, on the river Narew. National roads National road 60 (Poland), 60 and National road 60 (Poland), 61 intersect in the town. History In the late Middle Ages, Różan emerged as an impo ...

to Piotr and Aleksandra (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Magnuszewska). He was one of six children of the local

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Piotr Idźkiewicz. He went to school in

Pułtusk Pułtusk () is a town in Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it has a population of 19,224 as of 2023. Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( in length), it is a po ...

nearby. Between 1908 and 1912, Idźkiewicz studied drawing and painting at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw. At the same time he assisted in the painting of

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

Płock Cathedral Płock Cathedral (), or the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Masovia, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Płock, in central Poland. It is an example of 12th-century Romanesque architecture and is the oldest and most important hi ...

. In 1912, he went to

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

to study at the Academie Royale de Beaux Arts, and in 1913 and 1914 he continued his studies in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

at the Academy of Fine Arts as a student of

Józef Mehoffer Józef Mehoffer (19 March 1869 – 8 July 1946) was a Polish painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement and one of the most revered Polish artists of his time. Life Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce ...

and Józef Pankiewicz. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the principal painter of the Masovian Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral in

Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...

, Władysław Drapiewski, was exiled, and Idźkiewicz continued the work on the royal chapel there on his own. He made a living as teacher of fine arts at the local preparatory school and subsequently obtained high-school educator certification. After the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939, the entire collection of oil paintings by Idźkiewicz was stolen by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s and shipped to Germany. It was never recovered; only a few of his artworks remain. He was arrested and sent to

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

near Munich. Idźkiewicz survived the war, and settled back in Płock. He worked as an educator until his unexpected death on February 1, 1951, aged 61.

Notes and references

*Zienkiewicz H. (1963). "Czesław Idźkiewicz - Artysta malarz i wychowawca młodzieży", ''Notatki Płockie:'' 39-40 (Towarzystwo Naukowe Płockie). 1889 births 1951 deaths 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Polish landscape painters Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni People from Płock Governorate Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts alumni Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw alumni Polish schoolteachers Polish male painters {{Poland-painter-stub