Roman Kramsztyk (18 August 1885 – 6 August 1942) was a Polish realist painter of Jewish descent in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

. He was shot dead in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Life

Kramsztyk was born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

as the son of the physician Julian Kramsztyk (1851–1925) and grandson of reform

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Izaak Kramsztyk Izaak Kramsztyk (1814–1899) was a Reform Jewish rabbi, preacher, lawyer and writer. He is credited as the first rabbinic teacher of Talmud in Polish. He started a dynasty of Warsaw's benefactors, scientists and writers, which included his sons Z ...

(1814–1899). He studied painting at

Kraków Academy of Fine Arts The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków ( pl, Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Jana Matejki w Krakowie, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest Pol ...

under Józef Mehoffer and in Warsaw at the private art school of Adolf Eduard Herstein, and from 1904 at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

under

Johann Caspar Herterich Johann Caspar Herterich, sometimes known as Hans (3 April 1843, Ansbach – 26 October 1905, Munich) was a German history and genre painter. He was also a popular Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. Life and work He was the son of ...

. Between 1910 and 1914 he settled in Paris, during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he lived in Warsaw and continued his study of painting with Adolf Eduard Herstein. From 1922 he lived again in Paris, but visited Poland every year. During the 1939 visit he was surprised by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the German occupation of Poland. He was forced to enter the Warsaw Ghetto. He was shot dead 1942 on a ghetto street by a German soldier. Kramsztyk's painting was influenced by the art of

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...

. He created portraits, nudes, still life and genre paintings. During his sojourn in the ghetto he created drawings showing the life of imprisoned Jews. Some of these drawings survived the war as documents of

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

horror. Roman Kramsztyk Portrait Moise Kisling 1913.jpg, Portrait of

Moïse Kisling Moïse Kisling (born Mojżesz Kisling; 22 January 1891 – 29 April 1953) was a Polish-born French painter. He moved to Paris in 1910 at the age of 19, and became a French citizen in 1915, after serving and being wounded with the French Foreign ...

, 1913 Roman Kramsztyk Portret Jana Lechonia 1919.jpg, Portrait of

Jan Lechoń Leszek Józef Serafinowicz (pen name: Jan Lechoń; 13 March 1899 in Warsaw, Congress Poland, Russian Empire – 8 June 1956 in New York City) was a Polish poet, literary and theater critic, diplomat, and co-founder of the Skamander literary move ...

, 1919 Roman Kramsztyk Portret Karola Szustra 1927.jpg, Portrait of Karol Szuster, 1927 Roman Kramsztyk Figobranie 1921.jpg, Fig-tree harvest, 1921 Roman Kramsztyk --- Akt.jpg, Female nude

References

* Władysława Jaworska, Agnieszka Morawińska u.a., ''Malarstwo polskie w kolekcji Ewy i Wojciecha Fibakow'' (''Polish painting in the Ewa and

Wojtek Fibak Wojciech Fibak (; popularly Wojtek Fibak ; born 30 August 1952) is a former professional tennis player and Polish entrepreneur and art collector. Fibak is best known for his doubles success with Dutch pro Tom Okker and Australian Kim Warwick, a ...

Collection''), Auriga, , Warsaw 1992, page 140.

External links

Kramsztyk's works
at Central Jewish Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Kramsztyk, Roman 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Polish painters of Jewish descent People who died in the Warsaw Ghetto 1885 births 1942 deaths Olympic competitors in art competitions Polish male painters Polish civilians killed in World War II Polish people executed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm People executed by Nazi Germany occupation forces