Stanisław Kubicki (7 November 1889 – 1942) was a Polish painter, printmaker, member of the

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

movement in the arts and literature.

Biography

Born as the second child of engineer Witalis and his wife, Maria Stark. In 1908, he began studying at the school of architecture in

Bauakademie The Bauakademie (Building Academy, also known as the ''Schinkelsche Bauakademie'') in Berlin, Germany, was a higher education institution for the art of building to train master builders. Founded on 18 March 1799 by King Frederick William II ...

and at the Faculty of

Philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, as well as

botanics Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially their anatomy, taxonomy, and ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field. "Plant" and "botany ...

and

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

. He completed neither course. He was part of the Society of Tomasz Zan and the "Grupa Narodowa" (National Group). He published his first works in the Berlin periodicals of "

Die Aktion ''Die Aktion'' ("The Action") was a German literary and political magazine, edited by Franz Pfemfert and published between 1911 and 1932 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf; it promoted literary Expressionism and stood for left-wing politics. To begin with, ' ...

" and "

Der Sturm ''Der Sturm'' () was a German List of avant-garde magazines, avant-garde art and literary magazine founded by Herwarth Walden, covering Expressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, among other artistic movements. It was published between 1910 a ...

". During this time, he married Margarete Schuster, she took her husband's surname and changed her first name to Małgorzata. In 1911, he renewed his studies at the

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, however, these were halted by the start of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was drafted into the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

and sent to the Eastern Front on the left bank of the Vistula River in the area of the town of Iłża (about 40 km south of Radom), where he was injured in June 1915. After recovering he was sent to the reserve battalion in Bolesławiec (German: ''Bunzlau''). In 1916–1917, he served in the border guard in Chełmsk Śląski (German: ''Schomberg''). In 1917, he was assigned to a quartermaster course in Poznań. He was then sent to Warsaw, where from June to September 1918 he held the position of quartermaster at the Belvedere Palace. In 1918, he moved to

, where, in 1922 he founded the "Progressive" group, displaying his artwork in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In May 1922 he attended the

International Congress of Progressive Artists International Congress of Progressive Artists was organised by Young Rhineland (Junge Rheinland), with help from the November Group, the Darmstadt Secession and the Dresden Secession in Düsseldorf, 29-31 May 1922. The aim of creating an intern ...

and signed the "Founding Proclamation of the Union of Progressive International Artists". Until 1933, he cooperated with the news journal "a-z". During these years, he moved away from

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

becoming more involved with

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and

Constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in the Soviet Union in t ...

in his artwork. In 1933, Stanisław also founded the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

art group "Die Kommune". In 1933, he moved from Berlin to

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he tried to move to the civil war torn Spain. He abandoned painting for literature and poetry. During World War II, he helped the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

, acting as herald for the embassy of

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

in Berlin. The circumstances of his death are unknown, but were likely at the hands of the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. Stanisław Kubicki's resting place remains unknown.

Selected paintings

File:Stanisław Kubicki - Miasteczko.jpg, ''Little Town''
(1913) File:Stanisław Kubicki - Wieża Babel II (wersja b).jpg, ''Tower of Babel II (version b)''
(1918) File:Stanisław Kubicki, Autoportret, 1922.jpg, ''Autoportret VII''
(1922) File:Stanisław Kubicki Mojżesz przed krzewem gorejącym 1933.jpg, ''Moses and the Burning Bush''
(1933) File:Stanisław Kubicki Eintretender.jpg, ''Incoming''
(before 1939)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kubicki, Stanisław 1889 births 1942 deaths 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Polish male painters Home Army members Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Member of the Tomasz Zan Society Polish people executed by Nazi Germany Polish anarchists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni