Zbigniew Kupczynski (28 November 1928 – 18 February 2024) was a Polish-Canadian

abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

artist known for his colorful portrait paintings of celebrities and children.1997. "Flying Colours," ''Where Vancouver''. His work has been the subject of hundreds of exhibitions throughout Europe, North America, Australia and Japan since the 1950s.Hogan, Judith (1988). "Calendar December", ''Vancouver'', p. 156. Today, Kupczynski's works are held in private and corporate collections worldwide, including the estates of former US President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

.Alsop, Kay (1992). "A gift of art," ''The Whistler Journal'', p. 13.

Life

Kupczynski was born in

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, Poland, the only child of an officer in the Polish army. He started drawing with crayons as a child and was introduced to painting by his father. At the age of 11, Kupczynski escaped to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

with his mother during the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

, while his father went to the United Kingdom to aid in the war effort.Kupczynski, Zbigniew (2003). ''Art Warrior'', Granville Island Publishing, Vancouver. . While Kupczynski is known for his abstract and figurative works, he has experimented with a wide range of mediums. In the 1950s and 1960s, his paintings were predominantly oils on canvas. In the late 1960s, he experimented with metal compositions, which were exhibited in Poland, Sweden and Denmark.

Acrylic paint Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Dep ...

has been his preferred medium since the 1970s, when he immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Described as "one of the wild boys of Polish art" by Harold Schonberg of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', many of Kupczynski's portrait paintings are characterised by his unique personal style, use of bright colors on canvas, and trademark mini-scenes on the accentuated noses of his subjects.Makarewicz, Bonny (1992). "Internationally acclaimed Canadian poet, artist Kupczynski here Sunday," ''The Whistler Question Local News'', p. 23.Tant, Lisa. "A nose for art," ''Where Vancouver'', p. 38.Alsop, Kay (1993). "Wonderful whimsy," ''The Whistler Journal'', p. 16.

Career

In 1946, Kupczynski moved to

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

to receive formal training at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1952, Kupczynski became a member of The Association of Polish Artists, but the country's socialist realism policy barred his work from exhibition due to his tendencies towards

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 ...

and semi-abstract art. A change in Poland's government in the mid 1950s precipitated new trends in

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

and rising interest in Kupczynski's work. In 1956, French artist Andre Pignon visited Kupczynski in Warsaw and was appalled by his living and working conditions. Pignon's intervention resulted in the Ministry of Arts and Culture in Poland allocating a studio to Kupczynski. By the late 1950s, Kupczynski had attracted the attention of both Polish and Western critics, and he was featured in various publications, including '' Tygodnik'', ''Stolica'', ''Przeglad Kulturalny'', ''Wspolczesnosc'', ''Po Prostu'', '' Munchen Merkur'', and ''Tagebuch''. He was one of three artists featured in a documentary by The National Film Board in Poland, and he was awarded a government grant that enabled him to continue training in Paris. This led to an exclusive contract with the Galerie André Schoeller and further exhibitions in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

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, and the United States. In 1959, while on a trip to Warsaw, then-United States Vice President Richard Nixon purchased one of his paintings. By the early 1960s, Kupczynski had been commissioned to paint the interior of a church in Kiełpino, Poland, as well as a mural in Oświęcim, Poland. He had exhibited works in both the United States and Europe, including a one-man show at the Miami Museum of Modern Art. In 1962, Kupczynski initiated the first outdoor modern art exhibition in Warsaw on the walls of

Barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

in Kraków, evoking provocative cultural and political dialogue between artists and the hostile

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

regime. In 1963, Kupczynski's art was included in an exhibition at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

alongside the works of

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

, and

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

.Purvis, Andrew (1984). "How strong the artist; how strong the art," ''The Vancouver Western News'', p. 7. In 1964, Polish composer

Tadeusz Baird Tadeusz Baird (26 July 19282 September 1981) was a Polish composer. Biography Baird was born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, in Poland. His father Edward was Polish, while his mother Maria (née Popov) was Russian. In 1944 at the age of 16 he was deport ...

chose Kupczynski's artwork for the album cover of ''Modern Music Tastes''. In 1966, Kupczynski was included in Germany's most prestigious art encyclopedia, ''

Thieme-Becker Thieme-Becker is a German biographical dictionary of artists. Thieme-Becker The dictionary was begun under the editorship of Ulrich Thieme (1865–1922) (volumes one to fifteen) and Felix Becker (1864–1928) (volumes one to four). It was compl ...

'', and the world's largest contemporary art exhibition, the Kassel

documenta Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

, as well as the Repertorium Artis. In 1980, with his wife (tapestry artist Eva Kupczynski), Kupczynski opened the Kupczynski Studio Gallery in Vancouver. Kupczynski devoted much of the 1980s to commissioned work, including posters for the

Vancouver Opera Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada. Its mainstage performances occur in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, other venues in Vancouver and occasionally el ...

, a ceramic

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

for British Columbia's Children's Hospital, and a poster entitled ''Pax in Terra'' to commemorate Pope John Paul II's visit to Canada.Kupczynski, Zbigniew (1991). ''Three Hundred Years of Kupczynski'', Art West Publishing. ASIN B003AUTD8M. Kupczynski has been featured in many art shows in Canada and has had numerous exhibitions abroad, at the Drian Galleries in London, UK, the Art Emporium Gallery in Seattle, the Carimor Gallery in New York, and the Bancho Gallery and Atagoyama Gallery in Tokyo. In 2001 he returned to Poland for two exhibitions, in the Art and Forma Gallery and the Gallery of the President in Warsaw. In 2002, another exhibition of his work was held at the Historical Museum of Warsaw, and in 2007 at the Polonia House, Kraków, Poland. Kupczynski has written and been the subject of several books, including ''Journey to the Red Desert'',Kupczynski, Zbigniew (1989). ''Journey to the Red Desert'', Canadian Marketing Consultants, Vancouver. ASIN B00730SB2Y. ''Three Hundred Years Of Kupczynski'', ''Art Warrior'' and the ebook ''The Worlds of Kupczynski''.Jones, Julian P (2012). ''The Worlds of Kupczynski''. In 2020, Kupcyznski was featured in the documentary "The Painter from Nowhere" by Christian Trineer. Kupczynski died on 18 February 2024, at the age of 95.

References

*Kupczynski, Zbigniew (1983). ''Kupczynski'', Kupczynski Studio Gallery, Vancouver. ASIN B0007C8ENG. *Kupczynski, Zbigniew (1989). ''Journey to the Red Desert'', Canadian Marketing Consultants, Vancouver. ASIN B00730SB2Y. *Kupczynski, Zbigniew (1991). ''Three Hundred Years of Kupczynski'', Art West Publishing. ASIN B003AUTD8M. *Pollack, Jill; Kupczynski, Zbigniew (1997). ''Kupczynski'', Flower Valley Press, Gaithersburg. . *Kupczynski, Zbigniew (2003). ''Art Warrior'', Granville Island Publishing, Vancouver. . *Jones, Julian P (2012). ''The Worlds of Kupczynski''.
allmusic.com
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Hambleton Galleries
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Retrieved on 3 February 2013.
Invaluable
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Artfact
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Vancouver Public Library
Retrieved on 5 March 2013.

External links

*
The Artists' Bluebook
*
Harrison Galleries Artist at WorkZbigniew Kupczynski on FacebookZbigniew Kupczynski on artnet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kupczynski, Zbigniew 1928 births 2024 deaths Canadian abstract artists Canadian people of Polish descent People from Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939)