Lewitska Sopfia (Sonia) (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: Sofia Lewicka,

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: Cофія Пилипівна Левицька, French: Sonia Lewitska, russian: link=no, София (Соня) Филипповна Левицкая; born 9 March 1880 in Częstochowa,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, now Poland; died 20 September 1937 in Paris) was a

-born French painter and printmaker.

Biography

Sonia Lewitska was a Post-Impressionist painter, printmaker and illustrator of Ukrainian origin, sister of Ukrainian writer and diplomat Modest Pylypovych Levytskyi (1866, Vilkhivtsi (Вільхівці Чемеровецького району), Podillia,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Lutsk Lutsk ( uk, Луцьк, translit=Lutsk}, ; pl, Łuck ; yi, לוצק, Lutzk) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Lu ...

). Her father was an inspector of the public schools of the Podillya province. He was a friend of

Volodymyr Antonovych Volodymyr Antonovych ( ukr, Володимир Боніфатійович Антонович, tr. ''Volodymyr Bonifatijovych Antonovych''; pl, Włodzimierz Antonowicz; russian: Влади́мир Бонифа́тьевич Антоно́вич, ...

and Tadej Rylskyj, he was actively interested in social and cultural work. Her childhood was in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

and Vilkhivtsi. Her mother Modesta Byshovska (Biszowska) came from the Leszczyńskis (Leshchinskys). Her family was a highly educated and democratic, they spoke Ukrainian, well-fluent in German, French, Polish. Sonia graduated from Art School in

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...

. In that town, at the age of 19, she got married Yustyn Manylovskyi, a local doctor, but he abused alcohol. After Art School she ran away from her husband, went to her parents in Vilkhivtsi, left her daughter Olga who was born with mental problems, and began to study Art with Serhiy Svetoslavsky in Kyiv. S.Svetoslavsky advised her to go to Paris and Sofia moved to Paris in 1905 to study painting. Sonia Lewitska engaged in a refined art without losing what a poet called ''the gift of childhood''. Independent, she eschewed all art theory and only investigated the best means of translating her own interior vision into art. Often inspired by Slavic folklore. Lewitska was another early member of the Parisian group. In 1905 she settles in Paris and continued her studies at a Jean Marchand, who later became her husband. Beginning as a

cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

and

fauvist Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retai ...

, she moved into a Post-Impressionist style and became known for her illustrations of limited edition books. She exhibited at the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...

(1910–1913, 1919–1925, 1927–1934), the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (Pa ...

(1910–1914, 1920–1922), the

Section d'Or The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of Painting, painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism (art), Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the grou ...

, the

Salon des Tuileries The Salon des Tuileries was an annual art exhibition for painting and sculpture, created June 14, 1923, co-founded by painters Albert Besnard and Bessie Davidson, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, architect Auguste Perret, and others. The first year's e ...

(1929, 1932, 1933), the Paris galleries and at the International exhibitions. In 1933 she took part in ''Salon de Echanges''. At the same time, in accompany with her friend Henriette Tirman, she helps André Fau and Francis Thieck in room decoration suggesting services of painters from her closest circle:

Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted ...

, André Lhote, André Hellé and

Jean Marchand Jean Marchand, (December 20, 1918 – August 28, 1988) was a French Canadian public figure, trade unionist and politician in Quebec, Canada. Life and career During the 1949 Asbestos Strike in Quebec, Marchand led the striking workers as ...

. Thereby she supported her friends in tough times of economic crisis in the country. In 1937, Henriette Tirman with friends creates in her house the ''Society of Friends Sonia Lewitska'', which organized in 1938 two retrospective exhibitions of the artist in the ''Gallery Sagot – Le Garrec''.

Illustrations

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

, Bertrand Guégan (1892–1943); ''L'almanach de Cocagne pour l'an 1920–1922, Dédié aux vrais Gourmands Et aux Francs Buveurs'' (1921)Notice ''WorldCat''sudocBnF
Engraved on wood and unpublished drawings of:

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

, J. Marchand, R. Dufy, Sonia Lewitska, de Segonzac,

Jean Émile Laboureur Émile Laboureur, known as Jean Émile (16 August 1877, Nantes16 June 1943, near Pénestin) was a French painter, designer, engraver, watercolorist, lithographer, and illustrator. Biography He was born to a prosperous bourgeois family. In 189 ...

, Friesz, Marquet, Pierre Laprade, Signac, Louis Latapie,

Suzanne Valadon Suzanne Valadon (23 September 18657 April 1938) was a French painter who was born Marie-Clémentine Valadon at Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Haute-Vienne, France. In 1894, Valadon became the first woman painter admitted to the Société Nationale des ...

, Henriette Tirman and others.'

References

Notes

* Bénézit, 1976 : Sonia Lewitska

External links

Works Sonia Lewitzka
artnet.com

artrz.ru * ttp://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_van012199501_01/_van012199501_01_0012.php ''Van Gogh Museum Journal'' 1995, p.176, ''Portrait of Mme Sonya Lewitzka'', 1932, by Emile Bernard; no.S407M/1990 dbnl.org
Comoedia (Paris), 1935-04-11, ''Une exposition qui nous oblige à méditer sur le cubisme éternel''
BNF * Alexis Gritchenko, Mes rencontres avec les artistes français, L'Harmattan, 2010, pp. 160–166 () * (en) Vita Susak, Ukrainian artists in Paris. 1900–1939, Lviv, Rodovid Press, 2010 () {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewitska, Sonia 1880 births 1937 deaths 20th-century French painters 20th-century Russian painters 20th-century Polish painters Landscape artists French still life painters Russian still life painters Post-impressionist painters Modern painters Modern printmakers Woodcut designers French illustrators French women illustrators French women painters Russian illustrators Russian women illustrators Russian women painters Polish illustrators Polish women painters Polish women illustrators Fauvism 20th-century French women artists 20th-century Polish women artists 20th-century French printmakers Women graphic designers French women printmakers 20th-century Russian women Congress Poland emigrants to France