Wisława Szymborska | First Love / Il primo amore

They say

the first love's most important.

That's very romantic,

but not my experience.

Something was and wasn't there between us,

something went on and went away.

Andre Kohn | The burnt orange beret

Eugeniusz Żak

Belarusian / Polish artist Eugeniusz Zak (1884-1926) was born to a family of Polish Jews in Minsk, Belarus. As a boy he moved to Warsaw, where he graduated from a non-classical secondary school.

In 1902, he left for Paris to undertake studies, first at the École des Beaux-Arts in the studio of the aged master of academism Jean-Léon Gerôme, and then at Académie Colarossi in the studio of Albert Besnard.

In 1903, he traveled to Italy and toward the end of the year to Munich, where he entered a private school run by the Slovenian Anton Ažbé. His fame grew rapidly. The French government purchased of one of his paintings for the Luxembourg Museum (1910), he organized a one-man show at Galerie Druet (1911), and he was connected with important personalities of Parisian cultural life, including the critics Adolf Basler and André Salmon.

Edward Okun (1872-1945) | Symbolist / Art Nouveau painter

Edward Okuń was a Polish🎨 Art Nouveau painter🎨 and freemason. He painted landscapes, portraits, designed covers and llustrated magazines, including the German magazine "Jugend".

• Biography

Okuń was born in 1872 to a noble family and was orphaned early. He grew up with his grandparents on the maternal side.

After inheriting a large fortune, he soon began drawing lessons with great painters. In 1891 he studied at the Warsaw School of Drawing. From 1891-1893 he studied under the direction of Isidore Jablonski and Jan Matejko at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts.

He continued his studies in Munich and Paris.

Karl Witkowski (Polish/American painter, 1860-1910)

Karol (Karl) Dominik Witkowski was a Polish🎨-American🎨 portraitist and genre painter🎨, better known in the USA as Karl Witkowski. He painted scenes of contemporary daily life in America.

Karol Dominik Witkowski was born to a Polish family in Jazłowiec (Jaslowiec), near Buchach, Czortków (Podole, Poland, now Ukraine).

As young boy he showed unusual talent in making drawings and his parents sent him to school in Chortkiv (12 miles from Yazlovets).

Damian Lechoszest, 1976 | Genre painter

Polish painter🎨 Damian Lechoszest was born in Raciborz. At first his great interest was drawing. From the early childhood he liked to copy various characters of comics and fairy tales.

His childish sketches were so good that many people from his nearest neighborhood were very astonished.

At the first school years he took part in many artistic high-level competitions. His artistic works were often rewarded and got good opinions of critics.

Joanna Zjawinska, 1950 | Figurative painter

Joanna Zjawinska began to paint at the early age of six. She earned her B.A. degree in 1972 from the School of Architecture in Warsaw.

To follow her own dream of being an artist, Joanna then studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts where she perfected her unique style of oil and watercolor painting.

In 1978 she was awarded a masters degree in Graphic Design with honors in painting from the academy which is one of the most prestigious school in Europe.

Adam Styka (1890-1959) | Under the African Sun

Polish🎨-born French painter Adam Styka completed his education at the French Academy of Fine Arts, Academie des Beaux-Arts, and painted closely under the tutelage of his father, Jan Styka.

Each year Adam exhibited his paintings in the Paris' most prestigious galleries such as Salon de Paris🎨, Champs Des Elysees and others in Europe and countries of both Americas, where he constantly was awarded highest accolades.

Miriam Briks, 1957 | Figurative painter

Polish-born American painter Miriam Briks was born in Wroclaw, Poland. Raised in New York, she graduated from the School of Art and Design and studied figurative painting and drawing extensively at the Art Students League of New York.

For the next six years she worked as an illustrator and art teacher in Los Angeles and Florence, Italy. She also continued her studies at the Academy of Art in Siena. Originally trained in classical art, she began exhibiting her work in Paris, Italy and England. Upon her return to the Untied States, she took up residence in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.