Markowicz Artur
Painter and graphic artist. He was born in Podgórze, Cracow (currently a district of Cracow) in 1872 in a trading family. In 1886-95, he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow under the supervision of Loepold Loffler, Władysław Łuszczkiewicz, Florian Cynk and Jan Matejko. From 1896 he studied at the Academy of Munich, in the class of Franz Stuck. Later in 1900-1903, he lived in Paris, where he improved his talent in École des Beaux-Arts under the supervision of Léon Gérôme. He exhibited his paintings in Showrooms of the Society of French Artists and in the Autumn Showroom (he received the title “Chevalier d’orde académicque” for his pastels “Lew Belfortu” – “Lion of Belfort”, “Warszawa 14 lipca” “Warsaw of 14 July” and “W ogrodzie Luksemburskim” – “In the Luxemburg Garden”). In 1904, he returned to Cracow, where he had his own atelier in one of the showrooms of Jewish homes for the elderly in Kazimierz. In 1907-1908, he made a trip to Jerusalem, then to Italy (1910), and to Belgium and Holland (1911-1912 and in the 1920s). He belonged to TPSP (Society of Friends of Fine Arts) in Cracow and to TZSP (Society of Promoting Fine Arts) in Warsaw. He was also appointed the president of honour of the Jewish Society of Promoting Fine Arts. He exhibited his works in Cracow, Warsaw, Lvov, Łódź, Tarnopol, Katowice and other cities of Poland. He also made international exhibitions: Berlin (1903), Munich (1909), Antwerp (1911), Vienna (1911, 1913, 1915) and Meran (1914). Extensive collections of this artist’s works are currently in the compilations of the Jewish Historical Institute and in the Museum of Old Synagogue in Cracow. In 1995, Markowicz’s monographic exhibition took place, which was organised by the Jewish Historical Institute.
Markowicz is considered a perfect drawer and colourist. He drew mainly pastels. There were definitely fewer oil paintings. In his output, urban scenes and landscapes predominated in the beginning. Elements of symbolism and expressionism appeared from time to time, e.g. “Autoportret” (“Self-Portrait”) (with the skeletons in the background), or “Śmierć” (“Death) (the pastel is in the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw). In his works, he recorded the picture of damages done during the First World War in the area of Galicia, and he also left a number of works which constitute a peculiar calendar of his trips throughout Europe. His output was a separate phenomenon which is not subject to main trends in painting of his times, a phenomenon which is easily recognizable thanks to a specific range of colours applied and the illustration of a figure. In 1902, a pastel “Sądny dzień” (“Doomsday”) was exhibited in the TPSP in Cracow, which started a series of scenes of the lives of Jews. These were intimate presentations of prayers, discussions, studying, playing chess as well as group compositions situated against the background of synagogues, and portraits of old men from homes for elderly, where he had his atelier. The most famous ones include: “Talmudistsyści” (“Talmudists”), “Czytająca Żydówka” (“Reading Jewish Woman”), “Dysputa nad etrogiem” (“Dispute over the Etrog”), “Żydzi z Torą” (“Jews with the Torah”), “Po pogromie” (“After the Pogrom”), and “Szachiści” (“Chess Players”). Artur Markowicz died in 1934 in Cracow.
