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Jerzy Luczak-Szewczyk

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Jerzy Luczak-Szewczyk
Jerzy Luczak-Szewczyk, 1974
Born
Wojciech Stanisław Szewczyk

(1923-01-02)2 January 1923
Lublin, Poland
Died12 April 1975(1975-04-12) (aged 52)
Örebro, Sweden
NationalityPolish, Swedish
Occupation(s)Painter, drawer, sculptor
Spouse
Inga Johansson
​
(m. 1950)​

Jerzy Luczak-Szewczyk (2 January 1923, Lublin, Poland - 12 April 1975, Örebro, Sweden) was a Polish-born Swedish painter, drawer and sculptor.

Biography

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Jerzy Luczak's birth name was Wojciech Stanisław Szewczyk. He was born in Lublin, Poland and lived there during his childhood together with his mother Wincentyna (maiden name: Skośkiewicz), his father Franciszek Szewczyk and his sister Janina.[1][2] Already as a child he was interested in painting[3] and when the family in the late 1920s moved to the outskirts of Warsaw, he became acquainted with an established artist who taught him different techniques. During his teens he began studies in art at schools in Warsaw.[4] However, after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, he had to end his education as German authorities took him to do forced labour in the spring of 1940.[5][6]

The refugee

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Luczak was sent to East Prussia, where he at first was commanded to work at a farm near the town Angerapp (present-day Ozyorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast) and later in a forced labour camp in Allenstein (Olsztyn). In the autumn of 1943 he escaped to Warsaw where a relative hid him. Since he was wanted by German authorities and lived under the threat of execution if he was found, he had to assume a new identity. Through contacts with the Polish Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa) he got false documents and the name Jerzy Luczak.[5]

The false identity saved him from being executed when German military later took him again, during a round-up (Polish: Łapanka) in Warsaw. However he was sent to a forced labour camp, this time in Berlin, where he was forced to clear ruins after the Allied bombing raids. After some time he was selected together with about one hundred other prisoners to be sent to a forced labour camp in northern Norway. The group of prisoners was transported by boat via Stettin in Germany to Oslo in Norway. At the arrival Luczak escaped once more. He by coincidence met a man who contacted the Norwegian resistance movement.[5][6] They helped him across the border to Sweden on the night between the 8 and 9 March 1944.[7][8]

When Jerzy Luczak-Szewczyk arrived in Sweden, the immigration authorities sent him to Örebro (a town situated in the middle of the country) where he got a job in a photographers company. At the same time he began his career as a professional artist, but during the first years in Sweden he could not get documents from Poland to certify his true identity. Therefore, he used his false name Jerzy Luczak as his artist name.[5] Even after he had been granted a Swedish citizenship under his real birth name in 1954,[9] he continued to sign his works J. Luczak. It was not until the mid-1960s that he began to sign with both surnames.[10] In 1950 Jerzy Luczak-Szewczyk married Swedish-born Inga Johansson in Örebro.[4][11]

Career and exhibitions

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Jerzy Luczak-Szewczyk worked mainly in oil painting, but he also used other media, such as drawing, stucco, sculpture and mosaic. Between his first Swedish exhibition in 1946 in Eskilstuna[12] and his last in 1962 in Örebro, he had several exhibitions of his own and participated in group exhibitions. During the 1950s he also carried out decorations on public and private owned buildings, especially mural paintings and reliefs.[4][13]

In the beginning of his career, Luczak's subjects were illustrations of his memories from the war, still lifes, portraits and landscapes. His paintings varied in quality, but he continued to work and to develop his skills. The paintings from the 1950s, especially his city scenes and landscapes, show that he gradually went from a style inspired by Cézanne, to an increasingly freer and personal way of expression.[4]

Luczak's travels in Europe in the early 1960s, led to a radical change in his style.[13] Instead of using brushes and palette knives, he started to paint with his hands on the canvas. Initially the subjects still were figurative compositions but from the middle of the decade he created surrealistic, expressive images of dramatic landscapes, populated by fantasy figures, fish and animals. The paintings were large, performed in a personal impasto technique and often in darkish colour tones.[10]

During his travels in Europe Luczak visited museums and art galleries. He also introduced himself to gallery owners. An exhibition at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris in 1965 led to positive reviews both in French and Swedish newspapers.[10][14][15][16][17] This resulted in further exhibitions for example in Paris (Galerie Mouffe 1970), Biarritz (Galerie Vallombreuse 1970), New York (Galerie Internationale 1970) and in London (B. H. Corner Gallery 1971).[18][19]

Jerzy Luczak-Szewczyk died 12 April 1975 in Örebro, Sweden.[20][21] In 1970 he was appointed honorary member with silver medal of the Accademia Internazionale Tommaso Campanella in Rome. He is represented in Swedish private and public collections and in private collections in France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.[18]

Notes

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  1. ^ Birth certificate: no 240, 1923. Św. Michała parish, Lublin, Poland.
  2. ^ Phillips, J. (1982) My secret diary. London, United Kingdom: Shepheard-Walwyn Ltd. ISBN 0856830623. (The author is the artists sister. She dedicated the book to her brother who as a child was called "Wojtek" and mentions him from page 1. The book describes the siblings childhood and their summer 1939.)
  3. ^ Säf. (3 September 1949) "Färgstark Örebropolack målar skorna före dans". Aftonbladet. Stockholm, Sweden (An interview with the artist.)
  4. ^ a b c d Roosval, J., Lilja, G., Andersson, K. ed. (1952-1967). Svenskt konstnärslexikon: tiotusen svenska konstnärers liv och verk. Malmö, Sweden: Allhems förlag. Vol III, p. 594. (A Swedish dictionary of artists.)
  5. ^ a b c d Statens Utlänningskommission, centraldossier 601035 över Szewczyk, Wojciech Stanislaw. Riksarkivet, Stockholm. (The Swedish Migration Agency, dossier no 601035 concerning Szewczyk, Wojciech Stanislaw. The Swedish National Archives, Stockholm, Sweden.)
  6. ^ a b Movitz. (15 August 1946) "Polsk flykting rustar för Örebrovernissage". Örebro Dagblad. Örebro, Sweden. (An interview with the artist.)
  7. ^ Hiertner, Å. Förteckning över flyktingärenden 1/10 1941 - 26/5 1945. March 1944, p. 3. Järnskogs Hembygdsförening, Koppom. (A register of refugees arriving from Norway 1/10 1941 - 26/5 1945 written by District Police Officer in Järnskog Åke Hiertner. The Local History Society in Järnskog, Koppom, Sweden).
  8. ^ Landsfiskalen i Järnskogs distrikts arkiv, akt 848. Värmlandsarkiv, Karlstad. (Archives of the District Police in Järnskog, dossier 848. Värmland Archives, Karlstad, Sweden.)
  9. ^ Bevis om svenskt medborgarskap. Kungliga Justitiedepartementet 9 July 1954. (Swedish citizenship. The Swedish Department of Justice 9 July 1954.)
  10. ^ a b c Fjärrstrand, A. ed. (2011) Svenska konstnärer. Biografisk uppslagsbok 2011. Sala, Sweden. Bfl Svenska Konstnärer: p. 328. ISBN 978-91-633-8137-9 (A Swedish dictionary of artists.)
  11. ^ Marriage certificate: 11 November 1950. Olaus Petri Parish, Örebro, Sweden.
  12. ^ B. H. (11 December 1946). "Röd tunga". Sörmlandsposten. Eskilstuna, Sweden. (Review of one-man exhibition in Eskilstuna, Sweden.)
  13. ^ a b Bilting, J. (29 April 1962) "Intressant Örebro-konstnär hos Vallins". Nerikes Allehanda. Örebro, Sweden. (Review of one-man exhibition in Örebro.)
  14. ^ Morget, J-F. (24-30 November 1965) "Jerzy Luczak à la Galerie Bernheim (Paris)". Arts. L'hebdomadaire complet de la vie culturelle. No 9, p. 32. Paris, France. (Review of one-man exhibition.) Extract: "Fougueux coloriste, Luczak peint en visionnaire de paysages pathétique et des personnages comme possédés par fatalité. On ne saurait demeurer insensible à cet univers tentaculaire et oppressant, à ces visages hallucinants, blessés par la vie qu'exorcice le lyrisme véhément de Luczak, l'un des meilleur peintres suédois actuels." Translation: "An ardent colorist, Luczak paints pathetic landscapes and beings, possessed by fatality. It is impossible to remain insensible to his tentacular and oppressive universe, to these hallucinating faces wounded by life, conjured up by Luczak's vehement lyric, one of Sweden's best painters of today."
  15. ^ Weber, A. (16 November 1965) "Les expositions". Juvénal. Hebdomadaire de la gauche patriote. No 849, p. 10. Paris, France. (Review of one-man exhibition.) Extract: "la haine et l'amour, le tragique de la condition humaine, l'être face au chaos, la solitude sont ses thèmes favoris. Son cri garde cependant vertu d'espérance. (...) On est comme en voûté par ses créations, d'une originalité lyrique indiscutable". Translation: "hate and love, the tragedy of human condition, being facing chaos, solitude are his favourite themes. However, his cry has an undertone of hope. (...) His creations bewitch and enchant you with their indisputable lyric originality."
  16. ^ (23 November 1965) "Paris-kritiker berömmer". Dagens Nyheter. Stockholm, Sweden. (Article about the one-man exhibition in Paris 1965 and the French reviews.)
  17. ^ Göranzon, K. (20 November 1965) "Paris-kritikerna har bara lovord för Örebrokonstnär". Örebro Kuriren. Örebro, Sweden. (Article about the one-man exhibition in Paris 1965 and the French reviews.)
  18. ^ a b Rauschenbusch, H., ed. (1971). International directory of arts. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Berlin, Germany: Deutsche Zentraldrûckerei AG. p. 837.
  19. ^ Polier, B. (5 November 1970) "Galerie Internationale". Park East. Vol 7, no. 44, p. 4. New York, U.S. (Review of one-man exhibition in New York.) Extract: "These unusually appealing paintings in wild, bright colors are populated by imaginary creatures, some almost animals, others mostly human. These are the denizens of brilliant, fantastic haunts where two suns swirl through flaming skies or billowing spheres of color sigh and breath, or shriek of an existence of their own. (...) It seems that Jerzy Luczak-Szewczyk has succeeded in creating the effect of Goya's "Goat Paintings" while painting in the intensified hues of Chagall, with the stroke-follows-form brush and palette technique of Van Gogh."
  20. ^ Announcement of death and obituary (24 April 1975). Nerikes Allehanda. Örebro Sweden.
  21. ^ Death certificate: issued 18 April 1975. Olaus Petri Parish, Örebro, Sweden.

Additional literature

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  • Bugatti, C. E. (1969) Guida all'arte Europea. Ancona, Italy: p. XXXIII and p. 83. (A dictionary of artists.)
  • Fourny, M. (1970) Annuaire de l'art international 1970-1971. Paris, France: p. 464. (A directory of artists and galleries.)
  • Lo Faro Editore, V. (1970) Traguardi dell'arte '70. Rome, Italy: vol. I, p. 284. (A dictionary of artists.)
  • Palmaer Waldén, M., Waldén K. (1965) Örebro i konsten. Örebro, Sweden. Drätselkammarens kansli. Unnumbered page.(The book concerns the town of Örebro as it has been presented in art.)
  • Rauschenbusch, H., ed. (1967,1969) International directory of arts. Berlin, Germany: Deutsche Zentraldrûckerei AG. 9th edition 1967: vol. 1, p. 745. 10th edition 1969: vol. 1, p. 824.

Selected Swedish newspaper articles and reviews of exhibitions

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  • Ahlin, J. (16 October 2015) "Konstnär med spännande historia". Mariestads tidning. Mariestad, Sweden. (Article about five reliefs executed by the artist in 1956 in Mariestad.)
  • C.S. (16 April 1947) "Polsk målare ställer ut på Mollberg". Skånska Socialdemokraten. Hälsingborg, Sweden. (Review of one-man exhibition in Hälsingborg)
  • Fr. (16 November 1954) "Polsksvensk konstnär utställer i Bollnäs". Hälsinge-Kuriren. Bollnäs, Sweden. (Review of one-man exhibition in Bollnäs.)
  • G. H-d. (3 March 1948) "En polsk målare". Borås Tidning. Borås, Sweden (Review of one-man exhibition in Borås.)
  • G. (12 March 1949) "Polsk målare på Klostret". Arbetet. Malmö, Sweden. (Review of one-man exhibition in Lund.)
  • JoJo. (21 March 1955) "Intressant utställning i Säbysalen". Tranåsposten. Tranås, Sweden. (Review of one-man exhibition in Tranås.)
  • Lindén, G. (28 December 1965) "30.000 kronor gav fin utdelning". Nerikes Allehanda. Örebro, Sweden. (Article about the one-man exhibition in Paris 1965.)
  • Särnstedt, B. (9 November 1954) "Jersey Luczak". Östgöta Correspondenten. Linköping, Sweden. (Review of one-man exhibition in Motala.)
  • "Örebrokonstnär hemma igen efter lyckad amerikasejour Nu väntar London och Paris". (21 December 1970) Örebro Kuriren. Örebro, Sweden. (Article about the one-man exhibition in New York 1970.)
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