Mieczysław Lurczynski (1908-1992) “portrait Of Prince W. Czartoryski” Oil On Cardboard 73x54

Mieczysław Lurczyński (1908-1992) “Portrait of Prince W. Czartoryski” Oil on cardboard signed lower left 73 × 54 cms Portrait of Prince Władysław Czartoryski (1918-1978), with whom Lurczynski maintained a friendly relationship. He is the grandson of the famous Prince Władysław Czartoryski (1828 – 1894), Polish diplomat and patriot and important collector of works of art, patron, as well as one of the founders of the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow. Painter, poet, essayist, Lurczyński was born on December 14, 1908 in Saint Petersburg into a family of Polish civil servants, deported to Russia in 1905. In 1909, the family returned to Warsaw. Lurczyński graduated from the Warsaw School of Political Sciences and then from the Academy of Fine Arts. Between 1930 and 1939, his paintings were exhibited in numerous Polish galleries, including the prestigious Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw. During the occupation, he belonged to the Union for Armed Struggle (ZWZ), then to the Home Army (AK). He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943. He was transferred to Buchenwald where he fell into doubt and illness. At the beginning of 1945, Lurczyński was transferred to the SS Kommando in Escherhausen, where, thanks to his linguistic skills, he became a translator. During the evacuation of the camp, Lurczyński escaped and took refuge in Hanover, where he settled after the war. He paints a lot in Germany and has personal exhibitions notably in Braunschweig and Munich. Apart from painting, he writes short stories, poetry and plays. In 1949, he moved to Paris, where he lived and worked until his death in 1992. He regularly exhibited works painted in Algiers, Spain, Morocco, and the south of France. In addition to the picturesque landscapes, he was fascinated by the world of Arab markets and daily life.