The Great Painters

Piotr Potworowski

- rebellious colourist

Piotr Potworowski
Piotr Potworowski, 'Street in Spain'. Source: https://culture.pl/pl/tworca/tadeusz-piotr-potworowski.

Piotr Potworowski (1898-1962) 

The world and the restless spirit, on a journey from Post-Impressionism to abstraction, visited many countries and landscapes. His paintings are a painter's "travel diary": an unusual, synthetic vision of the climates and places he sees. The last stage of his art is a wonderful synthesis of the Polish landscape. He is one of the artists whose art is still vividly received by young artists, for whom he is not only an inspiration, but also a kind of model.

EMINENT COLOURIST

LANDSCAPIST

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INNOVATIVE SCENOGRAPHER

SCULPTOR

Piotr Potworowski

1898

(14 June) Tadeusz Piotr Potworowski, first-born son of Gustaw (director of the Diesel engine factory) and Jadwiga Wyganowska, was born in Warsaw. It was a wealthy family: apart from a large house on Hortensja Street, they had a villa in Kazimierz, where they spent their holidays. The mother's brother, an amateur painter, encouraged the children to paint; other subjects were taught by home teachers.

1913

Mother dies tragically in Zakopane
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1914

a father sends 3 sons to his family in the Borderlands. Straight from the grammar school Piotr Potworowski joined the Uhlan Regiment and took part in the Battle of Krechowce (July 24, 1917). In the battles against the Ukrainians his brother was killed.

1918

after the end of the war, Piotr Potworowski tried to study architecture, but was soon mobilised again

1919

mobilisation and participation in the Bolshevik war, where he was wounded near Zamość

1920

the war speeds up his decision to become a painter - he enrolls in Konrad Krzyżanowski's Warsaw school

1922

Piotr Potworowski moved to Krakow (where it was said to have been more interesting) and began his studies at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts in Józef Pankiewicz's studio (1866-1940), where he joins the "Paris Committee". (groups of students raising funds to go to Paris)

1924

1924 went to Paris with the "Paris Committee", rented a separate studio in Montparnasse, enrolled in Fernando Léger's studio (1881-1955) and made close contact with Tadeusz Makowski (1882-1932) and Tytus Czyżewski (1880-1945), clearly tempted by cubism.

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1924-1928

 In order to make a living, Piotr Potworowski was a librarian, peace painter, and finally started making wooden models of ships, the construction of which he studied at the Musée de la Marine. At that time he also enlisted - as an ordinary sailor - on a small merchant ship, sailing on the Mediterranean Sea. Together with the crew of the sailing ship "Aimée-Marie" he visited African ports: Tunis, Morocco, Algiers, Carthage - the sea will remain his great fascination.

1928

he met Magdalena Mańkowska, an anthropology student in Paris, with whom he soon married

1930

Piotr Potworowski returned to Poland with his wife, where their son Jan was born. The artist and his family lived in the palace in Rudki near Szamotuły, the family estate of his wife. The hospitable house became a real "nest of art" - for months friends: Janusz Strzałecki, Cybis, Tytus Czyżewski (he even had his own studio there), Wacław Taranczewski

1931

the first exhibition of colorists in Warsaw was held at the Artists' Club in the Polonia Hotel, as well as an exhibition called "New Generation" at the Institute of Art Propaganda, where Piotr Potworowski received an award for the painting "Three women in the interior"

1937

the artist received a silver medal at the International Exhibition of Art and Technology in Paris and an award from the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Piotr Potworowski
Face of the sea 1960, oil, courtesy of the District Museum in Bydgoszcz. Source: https://culture.pl/pl/tworca/tadeusz-piotr-potworowski.

1938

The first large individual exhibition by Piotr Potworowski before the war at the Warsaw Institute of Art Propaganda. The exhibition visited Lviv and Krakow - unfortunately, all the paintings were lost in transport during the September campaign.

1939

took part in the September campaign. Prewarned of Gestapo principles, he was hiding in a village on the Bug River. The artist decided to get to the West and after many adventures (false documents, plane crash, escape from custody) he got through Kaunas to Sweden. He settled in Taxinge Näsby near Stockholm, where he worked physically. At the same time, he did not stop painting or even sculpting. It was then that he decided to devote himself fully to art - despite all the difficulties and turmoil of history.

1941

In August, he was able to bring his wife and two children together.

1943

Piotr Potworowski and his family have reached the United Kingdom. In London he also published reviews and short stories in the London monthly "Nowa Polska" and the national "Przeglad Artystyczny", he even published a collection of surrealistic miniatures "5 Letters".