Bolesław Cybis “The girl”, 1925

Watercolor on paper, signed and dated top right “7/VI 25 / B. Cybis”.

Framed: 59x49 cm (40x30 cm)

Boleslaw Cybis (1895–1957) was a Polish painter, sculptor, and muralist. Studied the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Upon graduation, he was appointed a professor at the Academy and traveled extensively throughout Europe recording his experiences in his art while studying the Old Masters and emulating their techniques. In 1926 he married Marja Tym, a talented fellow artist and student at the Academy. Cybis' paintings, sculptures, and murals won him recognition in Paris, Geneva, Munich, Frankfurt, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Bucharest and Vienna. From 1926-1930 he was fascinated by the peasants of the country side whom he likened to 15th century medieval portraits of the masters. Over the next four years he painted a series of peasant portraits now in various museum collections. In 1939 Cybis and his wife, Marja, an accomplished artist in her own right came to the United States to paint a series of murals commissioned by their government in the "Hall of Honor" at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Here he completed two frescos: "Poles Fighting for American Independence" and "Central Industrial District and Gdynia." Also shown at the fair was a textured tapestry rug, "Walking through a Park", designed by Cybis and his wife. He then toured the U.S., sketching and painting Native American Indians. Unable to return to their homeland after the outbreak of World War II, the Cybises chose to become citizens of the United States. Although he had spent many years as a painter, Cybis was also fascinated with three-dimensional porcelain art, and the couple soon established Cybis Studio at the Steinway Mansion in Astoria, New York, in 1940.