Joseph CZAPSKI (1896-1993)

Joseph CZAPSKI (1896-1993) 'Nature morte au torchon', oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right 75, annotated on the back "Nature morte au torchon". 50 x 61 cm Provenance: Galerie Plexus, Chexbres then private collection, Valais Note: In the mid-1920s, Joseph Czapski completed his training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and became friends with Cybis, Waliszewski and Jarema. It was with the latter, among others, that he founded the Kapists (Paris Committee). Rejecting both classically inspired Polish painting and non-figurative painting, the group moved to Paris and embraced the notion of "peinture peinture" of Van Gogh, Cézanne and the Fauves. From 1929 to 1931, the group exhibited several times in Paris, notably at Galerie Zak and Galerie Moos in Geneva. Back in Poland in 1931, Josef Czapski became the leader of modern painting in Poland, but as a global artist, he opened up his field of possibilities by also becoming editor of the avant-garde magazine "Voix d'artistes", writing a monograph on Pankiewicz in 1935 and an essay on the philosophy of Vasily Rozanov. Mobilized in 1939, Czapski, an artistic, literary and political figure, was caught up in history, taken prisoner by the Soviets and spent 18 months in the camps. Keeping his diary up to date, it was during his imprisonment in the Griazowietz camp that he wrote "Proust contre la déchéance" ("Proust against decay"). Ref. Czapski, Retrospective, Musée Jenisch, June 30 - September 15 1990, Editions Plexus. Our work can be compared with the work reproduced in "Czapski, Peintre du quotidien", Murielle Gagnebin, Editions Hermann Editeurs Paris, 2018. Page 6 and referenced: "Grapefruits sur nappe blance, 33 x 54 cm, oil on canvas, 1974, private collection.