Jan Lebenstein (1930-1999), Untitled (Woman, Sphinx and Obelisk), 1985

Jan Lebenstein was born in Brest-Litovsk and died in 1999 in Cracow. He studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts under Artur Nacht-Samborski. He made his debut at the exhibition Against War, Against Fascism at the Warsaw Arsenal in 1955. In 1959, he received the Grand Prix at the First International Biennale of the Young in Paris. Since then he has also lived permanently in France. He drew his subjects from ancient literature, mythology and the Bible. He studied cultural archetypes and transformed them into images for painting. He also created a series devoted to images of prehistoric animals. Associated with the milieu of the Parisian "Kultura", he illustrated the short stories of G. Herling-Grudziński's short stories published there. He illustrated Orwell 's Animal Farm published by the Literary Institute, and designed a stained glass window with scenes from the Apocalypse in the Pallottine Chapel in Paris. He received the A. Jurzykowski Foundation Award from New York in 1976 and the independent J. CybisAward in 1987.

[JR]