Oil on board. Featuring a portrait of Arlekin. Signed and attr. Tymon Niesiolowski (Polish, 1882–1965). Gallery label with inscription on verso, dated 1957. 15.6 x 11.6 in. (39.5 x 29.5 cm). Niesiolowski was a Polish painter and graphic artist, educator, and representative of the new Classicist trend in the 1920s. Born in 1882 in Lvov, died in 1965 in Torun, Niesiolowski began his artistic studies in 1898 at the School of Industry in Lviv within the Department of Decorative Painting. He continued his studies between 1900 and 1904 at Krakow's Academy of Fine Arts under the direction of Józef Mehoffer, Teodor Axentowicz, and Stanislaw Wyspianski. In 1903 he began to exhibit jointly with the members of the Sztuka / Art Society of Polish Artists. Between 1905 and 1926 he lived in Zakopane, where he became a member of the local artistic and intellectual elite and maintained contacts with, among others, Jan Kasprowicz, Stefan Zeromski, Stanislaw Witkiewicz and Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Wladyslaw Orkan, Tadeusz Micinski, and Karol Szymanowski. Niesiolowski's artistic stance was strongly influenced by the art of Wladyslaw Slewinski, who resided in the nearby village of Poronin between 1906 and 1910. In 1907 the artist traveled to Vienna, Paris, Berlin, and Budapest. He also visited Munich (1907) and Italy (1908). In 1908 he joined in the last exhibition of the Group of Five (a formation that represented the symbolist Young Poland current) presented in Vienna and Munich. In 1909 he became a member of the Podhale Arts Society, while in 1910 he began to work with the Kilim Studio in designing fabrics. Between 1917 and 1922 he was a member of the avant-garde group known as the Polish Expressionists (renamed the Formists in 1919). In 1919 he assumed a professorial position at the Free School of the Visual Arts created in Zakopane, and in 1922 joined the Rytm (Rhythm) Association of Polish Visual Arts. In addition, he participated in exhibition of the groups Awangarda / Avant-garde (Kraków, 1930) and Nowa Generacja / New Generation (Lvov, 1932). In 1926 he moved to Vilnius, where he assumed the position of director of the School of Artistic Crafts and joined the Society of Visual Artists in Vilnius. In 1928 he began to teach painting, fabric design, and poster design in the Fine Arts Department of Stefan Bathory University in Vilnius. Solo exhibitions of Niesiolowski's art were held in Warsaw at the Zacheta Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts (1923, 1925, 1926) and at the Art Propaganda Institute (1938), as well as in Krakow (1921), Torun (1926), and Lódz (1935). The artist participated in presentations of Polish art abroad organized by the Society for the Propagation of Polish Art Among Foreigners in cities like Helsinki and Stockholm (1927), Vienna and Brussels (1928), the Hague and Amsterdam (1929), and Edinburgh (1932). In 1940-1941 he acted as president of the Association of Visual Arts in Vilnius and lectured at the Art Academy. Almost all of Niesiolowski's artistic works were destroyed during the war. In 1945 the artist settled in Torun, where between 1946 and 1960 he headed the Easel Painting Faculty of the Fine Arts Department at Nicholas Copernicus University. In 1958 he became a member of the Torun Group. Niesiolowski received numerous distinctions and awards, including a silver medal at the International Art and Technology Exhibition in Paris (1937) and an honorable mention at an exhibition at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh (USA). In 1955, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of his creative career, Niesiolowski received the Cavalier's Cross of the Order of the Restoration of Poland. In 1960 the artist represented Poland at the 30. Venice Biennale. After the war his most important individual exhibitions were held in Warsaw at the Zacheta Contemporary Art Gallery (1957, 1960), at the Palace of Art in Kraków (1957), and at the Silesian Museum in Wroclaw. PROVENANCE: Salon Sztuki, Wladyslaw Ratusinski. Acquired by current owner (2013).

All authorship of items in this catalog are described according to the following terms:

By [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work is by the artist.

Attributed to [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work may be ascribed to the artist on the basis of style, but there may be some question as to actual authorship.

In the manner of [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : In our opinion, a work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: In our opinion, a work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century : In our opinion, this work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).

Bears signature : In our opinion, the signature on the artwork may be spurious.
Apocryphal : Of doubtful authenticity.