Alexander Drobik

Alexander Drobik

(1890 - 1968)

Polish-Austrain painter and woodblock printmaker.

Besides an auction site Ebay also works as a flood line, washing ashore from time to time great and before unknown works of art. By often obscured and forgotten artists. For the curious like myself an irresistible invitation sometimes to investigate further.

This surprising and great woodblock print showing probably a Russian prisoner of War camp is, according to the seller, by Drobiks hand and turned up recently (it's still there). The attribution probably by the signature but illegible in the photograph. Ploughing the internet with high hopes finding more examples of prints by this artist was not successful. 

All I could find was a handful of (auctioned) oil paintings, all with wintery mountains. Very nice paintings but would I like to find more prints……..

Alexander Drobik was born in Teschen (Tēsín) in Silesia. In a melting pot region that was the south of Poland, the Austrian-Hungarian kingdom, adjacent to the Czech Republik, Germany and Austria and died in Salzburg in 1968.

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All pictures freely borrowed from the internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use only. 

Janina Konarska, Polish printmaker

Janina Konarska (born Seideman) - Słonimska

Łódź  1900 - 1975 Warsaw

Polish painter, sculptor and woodblock printmaker

I stumbled upon a print by this Polish artist and here’s the result of my initial  research. Amazingly Janina Konarska is hardly known outside Poland and all text I could find I had to translate. But here is: all color woodblock prints I could find shown together for the first time in this posting.   

Born in a family of textile factory owners she initially was trained as a teacher artist. Later entering the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts she was Wladyslaw Skoczylas (1883-1934) printmaker and art educator, favourite student.

In 1918 she adopted the artist name of Konarska, which was officialised in 1924 also for her daughter Hanka. During the Polish-Russian War (1918-1921), the fight for Polands' independence, she worked as a nurse treating and caring for the injured soldiers. Janina Konarska exhibited successfully internationally during the 1920's and 1930's in 1932 winning a medal for her “Skiers” in Los Angeles (US).

Konarska in the 1920’s belonged to Poland’s inner circle of intellectuals, artists and writers. Her friends described her as stunningly beautiful: a "Sophie in  Soplicowo Garden” hinting at Poland’ s famous literary national epic epos Pan Tadeuzs (Sir Taddeus) by poet  Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855). Below a still from the 1999 movie (note also the beautiful flowers !)

This 19 pencil sketch below, I could not find any sculptures or paintings by her hand, is of pianist Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982), with Frederique Chopin (1810-1849) and Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) among the most famous of Polands' sons.

Besides Janina's iconic beauty she was an intellectual, and a passionate lover of Polish poetry. And, it is said, of Polish poets, writers and artists. Her turbulent love life was as legendary as her beauty. 

In 1934 to anyones surprise she married writer, poet and journalist Antoni Slonimski (1895-1976) gradually ending her own artistic career dedicating the remainder of her life to her husbands career.

In most of the woodblock prints I’ve found the birds-eye views and depiction of sporting events is eminent. Janina is buried in Warsaw along with her husband, who died in a car accident.

All comments, corrections and additions on this posting are warmly welcomed. See also my posting on Adam Bunsch (1896-1969), very much a contemporary of Janina and also a Polish printmaker unobscured in this Blog. 

All pictures borrowed freely from the Internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use. 

Adam Bunsch: a Polish Allen Seaby

Adam Bunsch

(Krakau 1896-1969 Krakau)

Writer, Painter, Playwright, Printmaker

A Polish Soldier Artist (Poland, France, Britain).

His life was a mirror of the history of the first half of XXth century Poland. A painter, a designer of stained glass windows, mosaics and polychromes, a specialist in Japanese style wood engravings, a ceramist, a stage designer, a graphic artist, and a draughtsman. 

left: "Dzika kaczka" (1927) wild ducks by Adam Bunsch and right by Allen Seaby

Also playwright, an original thinker and a man of the deepest convictions and beliefs.

"Sikorki modre", Blue tits in cherry tree (1953)

It is not difficult to see who were Adam Bunsch’ printmaking heroes. Trying his best in the Japanese traditional printmaking way German Walter Klemm (1885-1957) and British Allen William Seaby (1867-1953) obviously a source of inspiration. Both in choise of subjects as in printing style. 

Goldfinches by Adam Bunch. he did many so I can't tell the year of creation  

and goldfinches by Allen Seaby 

The retrospective exhibition held a few months ago in London speaks of his actual presence in England as a war artist. This, I think, is a great opportunity asking my friend Charles of Modern Printmakers (M.P.) to let his expert light shine on the matter.

left: "Szczygly" 1962, right "Pszczoly", Bees on apple blossom (1946)  

After my sheer coincidental encounter with Adam Bunsch I found and purchased his Catalogue Résumé in Poland, revealing some more use-able for the Linosaurus pictures of woodcuts with publishing dates. Which in the case of comparing Bunsch with Seaby is not a big help because Seaby didn’t leave notes on dates of his editions (acc. to Charles, M.P.)

Kingfishers (Zimorodki) on chestnut branch, Adam Bunsch 1931

and by Allen Seaby and  by Walther Klemm.

All written information in the booklet however is in Polish. What I could make up is Bunsch travelled Europe in 1928-29 (Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice and Vienna) and as a war artist was again actually in France, England and Scotland in 1940-45. 

"Piskleta" fledgelings (1936) and  right: "Bazanty", pheasants (probably 1963)

Between 1926 and his death in 1969 he produced some 88 woodcuts mostly of animals. Goldfinches (thistle finches) a favorite: he did several, like Seaby did several kingfishers. But also poultry, pheasants, ducks and fishes. Motives also choosen and loved by Walter Klemm. Dogs and cats also a favorite. I managed to find some 18 prints in colour that I'm showing here. Hopefully more examples will show up after this article/posting for all to enjoy. I've seen some pretty spectacular examples of roosters, birds of prey and owls but in black &amp white thumbnails.

left "Kot", cat (1951) right: "Bialy piesek" dog lying (1933)

The Japanese application and use of paint, like a watercolor wash, and blocks used for  background are also very reminding of printmaker Erna Fenkohl-Herzer (1882-1975) whom I rediscovered and showed her works in the Linosaurus: see here*.

 Adam Bunsch & Erna Fenkohl 

POSK, The Polish Catholic Mission of England & Wales and the Sikorski Institute and Museum have joined forces to present this joint retrospective exhibition of Bunsch's works in their possession to awaken the memory of a man who impacted on so many from the young Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, to visitors of the Paris 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne Exhibition and the New York World's Fair in 1939 and many international dignitaries of his time (from the recent London 2012 cataloque).

Frantiszeck (Frances) Bunsch: an unequaled delicate portrait (1933) in woodblock print of Adam Bunsch' son Frances (1926), above, who followed in the footsteps of his father a career as a Polish artist and professor. 

left "Cyclamen" (1934),   right "Mlecz" (thistles) (1946)

left: "Cerkiew" (church) 1926, right: "Glowa" 1935 

I'm convinced showing together all these very original and rather unknown prints with such unexpected quality by this hardly known outside Poland Modern Printmaker will be the starting point of a renewed interest. Like earlier publications in the Linosaurus have proven before: Karl Johne, Erna Fenkohl, Viktor Pirkhoff, E. Meinshausen-Felsing  among others. 

view on Krakau, date unknown 

All examples shown are mouse-clickable. 

I know readers and occasional passers-by are all busy people but please: consider leaving a comment as a signal of appreciation or just out of politeness. Composing these postings takes a lot of time and effort. Finding my writings and "my" pictures used all over the internet without leaving a word, a reference or even something simple as a "hello" or comment is increasingly  frustrating and will, in the end, result in ending of sharing my new findings and closing the Linosaurus Blog alltogether.