Jerzy HERBST (1907-1975), Tree on a Hill

Watercolor on pencil underdrawing, paper, 41.5 x 29.5 cm (sheet dimensions); signed l. d.: Herbst; inscribed on back: Herbst; unframed

Jerzy Herbst,Polish painter, was born on May 25, 1907 in Humań, Kiev Governorate.
In 1923, he and a group of Polish children were sent to Poland fleeing poverty, persecution and the Bolsheviks.
At the age of 16 he was placed in an orphanage in Przysucha.He was brought to Warsaw by his aunt Maria Gonzaga-Myszkowska.
In 1924 he graduated from high school and in 1927 he got a permanent job at "Społem"
In 1931-1934 he studied at the School of Fine Arts (renamed the Academy of Fine Arts in 1932) in Warsaw.His mentor and professor was Tadeusz Pruszkowski, among others.
After graduation he worked as a designer and painter in the advertising department of "Społem". In the 1930s and during the occupation he did a lot of painting and wrote dramas with his friend, also a painter, Eugeniusz Chruścicki. In 1939 he was mobilized and took part in the September campaign.
After returning from the front, he maintained a studio in Independence Avenue in Warsaw.
He was married to Eugenia née Styczynska, with whom he had two children: Teresa (born 1934) and Jerzy Wojciech (1939).
He died on May 16, 1975 in Warsaw.