Zygmunt Waliszewski

 Zygmunt Waliszewski, Self-Portrait, 1929

Zygmunt Waliszewski (1897-1936) was born in Saint Petersburg to the Polish family of an engineer. In 1907 his parents moved to Tbilisi, Georgia, where Waliszewski spent his childhood. In Tbilisi he began his artistic education in the School of Drawing and Painting. The work Waliszewski did while in Tbilisi (1917-1921) was influenced by French painting of the time - significant amounts of which he saw in various private collections - and by the art of the Russian avant-garde. 

 Zygmunt Waliszewski, Hamak, 1917

During World War I Waliszewski fought in the ranks of the Russian Army, returning to Tbilisi in 1917. He visited Moscow several times and became acquainted with the art of the Mir Isskustva (The World of Art Movement). In the early 1920s, Waliszewski departed for Poland, and settled in Kraków. Between 1921 and 1924 he studied at Krakow's Academy of Fine Arts in the studios of Wojciech Weiss and Jozef Pankiewicz. 

Zygmunt Waliszewski, Pejzaż zimowy z chatą, 1924

Waliszewski went to Paris in 1924 where he continued his studies in painting under the guidance of Pankiewicz. During his stay in Paris Waliszewski contracted the non-curable Buerger's disease and lost both his legs. 

Zygmunt Waliszewski, Wyspa miłości, 1935

In 1931 he returned to Poland, residing in Warsaw and Kraków. During this time Waliszewski designed scenery and posters, created book illustrations, drew and painted caricatures. He also composed fantastic, Comedia dell'arte inspired scenes and numerous variations on the motif of Don Quixote. Despite his deadly illness, he died in 1936, Waliszewski filled his paintings with humor, comic situations and irony. You can see more of his works here.