Eugeniusz Żak
Eugeniusz Zak, Eugeniusz actually Żak, (* December 15 1884 in Mogilno, Belarus, † January 15, 1926 in Paris) was a Polish painter and a major representative of the Ecole de Paris.
Life
Eugeniusz Zak was born into a Polish Jewish family, the (now Belarus ) lived in Mogilno in Minsk province. His father was an engineer. As a child he moved to Warsaw in 1892, where he graduated from high school. In 1902 he went to Paris to be trained there artistically - first in the École des Beaux -Arts in the atelier of Jean -Léon Gérôme, then at the Académie Colarossi under Albert Besnard. In 1903 he traveled to Italy, and finally in Munich for a short time to visit the private art school of the Slovenian artist Anton Ažbes.
In 1904 he returned to Paris. In the same year he made his debut in the autumn exhibition of the Parisian salons. Two years later he would be a member of the jury ( section drawing ) here. In the years 1906-1908 he traveled several times to Brittany. In Paris, he was active in the Polish artist colony and was a member of the Society of Polish Artists in Paris. He was friends with, among other novel Kramsztyk, Waclaw Borowski, Leopold Gottlieb, Elie Nadelman, Mela Muter, Tytus Czyżewski and Zygmunt Menkes.
Zak quickly became known. The French government bought in 1910 one of his paintings for the Paris Luxembourg Museum ( " Musée du Luxembourg " ) and 1911 found a solo exhibition at the prestigious Paris ' Galerie Drouet "instead. He had a close relationship with major art critics such as Adolf Basler and André Salmon, who promoted him. In 1912 he was appointed professor at the Académie de la Palette '' ''. In 1913 he married Jadwiga Kon. The time between 1914 and 1916 he spent in the south of France ( Nice, Saint Paul de Vence ) and Venice. He also visited Lausanne.
In 1916 he returned with his family returned to Poland and settled in Częstochowa, the hometown of his wife down. He became a follower of the future " Formalists ". On the occasion of regular visits Warsaw and contacts in the local art scene, he was co-founder in 1921 of the group rhythm (Polish: " Rytm "). In 1922 he left Poland again. After a stay in Berlin he was in Bonn, where he carried out in the villa of the architect Fritz August Breuhaus paintings. He also published articles in the magazine " German Art and Decoration ". In 1923 he moved back to Paris, where he met again with Zygmunt Menkes and Marc Chagall. Zak died in 1926 of a heart attack.
Work
In an early period ( 1904-1910 ) Zak painted portraits in oil with brown - black shades as well as heads and busts that were influenced by the works of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo, Albrecht Dürer and François Clouet. Later echoes of the style of the Nabis - representatives can be seen. Folkloric elements Brittany can be found in other images. From 1910 to 1929, he created many idyllic compositions, often with people in front of a body of water. Landscapes and architecture are presented in a geometric and rhythmic style. In this period, reminiscent of works by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and Maurice Denis and Paul Cézanne also be seen. His Cubist- styled houses and rock masses composed Zak always with his characteristic decorative rhythm of broken colors and restrained expression. In the works that he produced in the years 1917-1920, the company depressants loners often replaced enraptured, the figures of fishermen, sailors, merchants, and families previously used to live near. In his final period, the plants were light and vivacious again. They open partially Impressionism. The techniques and forms used by Zak are characteristic of his work and give his paintings a high recognition factor.
Exhibitions
During his lifetime, solo exhibitions of the artist in Paris (1911 and 1925 ) and Warsaw were held (1917 ). His works were shown at the 1904 exhibition of the Parisian salons and on a notion of Polish artists from Paris to Barcelona in 1912. Zak turned 1913 from the Armory shows in New York, Chicago and Boston, 1914 on the Venice Biennale in 1924 and at the Paris exhibitions of French-Polish Association ( " Association France- Pologne "). (: " Polskie club Artystyczny " polish ), New Group and the artist community later as " Formalists " representative designated in Poland he was in exhibitions of groups and associations " Sztuka ", " Rytm " Polish Art Club.
Posthumous exhibitions were, among others, in 1926 in Paris, Warsaw and Dusseldorf, 1927 in New York, 1928 in Buffalo and organized in London in 1929. Similarly, led by his wife in Paris after his death " Zak Gallery " showed more times his works. This gallery was very reputiert in the 1930s and organized many exhibitions debut, as for the Paris Committee and Wassily Kandinsky.