Jan Wacław Zawadowski, pseudonym Zawado, (14April 1891– 15November 1982) was a Polish painter of
landscapes (mainly of
Provence
Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...
),
still life
A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...
, portraits, and figural scenes. Influenced mainly by
Post-Impressionism, he was a pupil of
Józef Pankiewicz. Co-founder of the Cercle des Artistes Polonais in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
Biography
Jan-Waclaw Zawadowksi was born on 14 April 1891 in
Volhynie in
Russian Poland
Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish people, Polish State (polity), state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of ...
. His brother was
Witold Eugeniusz. When he was 13, Zawadowski discovered French paintings.
In 1910 he began to study at the Fine Art School of Cracovie in professor Józef Pankiewicz's studio. In 1912, Pankiewicz encouraged Zawadowski to go to Paris. After a brief stay in
La Ruche, he moved to
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...
. Then, he became active in the artistic community of
Montparnasse. He signed his first and last contract of exclusivity with German art dealer
Paul Cassirer, who organized many expositions in Germany. During the war, Zawadowski went to Spain for four years, mostly in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
where he met with friends, Polish painters, and
Arthur Rubinstein.
In 1919, when the war ended, he went back to Paris. In 1920,
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
died and Zawadowski moved into his studio. During the summer, Zawadowski visited
Saint-Cirq Lapopie with
Tsuguharu Foujita, Sanary or Le Blanc with
Chaïm Soutine, and
Bretagne where he painted landscapes.
Very tied with Leopold Zborowski, one of the greatest modern art dealer (for example he worked with Modigliani) Zawado gave him to sale his paintings. It's Zborowski who ask him to signed his paintings as Zawado instead of Zawadowski. In 1928, he enter into the « Circle of Polish artists in Paris ». Between 1920 and 1930 he took part at the artistic life of the first School of Paris. He speaks to many writers, musicians and of course painters. He exhibited in Poland, in Paris (Benezit's Gallery) and in London. In 1930 Zawado starts his stays in Aix-en-Provence. In 1938 he take the direction of the Polish Institut of Fine Arts in Paris.
In 1945 he stay definitively in Aix but still keep a studio in Paris. Being in the south without other painter's influences made him grow his very own style. His paintings now reflect the very particular light of the south of France.
During the 60s his first solo exhibitions starts in Aix, specially in Gallery Spinazzola. From now on Zawado mostly exhibited in the south of France. However a great retrospective took place in Cracovie in 1975, followed by a personal show in 1976 in New-York. It's therefore a whole world made of writers, musicians and painters who starts to visit him.
On 15 November 1982, Zawado died at his property in Provence.
References
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External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zawadowski, Jan Waclaw
1891 births
1982 deaths
20th-century Polish painters
20th-century Polish male artists
Post-impressionist painters
Polish landscape painters
Polish male painters