Alexander RAK (1899-1978), Drying laundry, 1940s

Woodcut, paper 14 x 17 cm in light passe - partout.
Aleksander Rak (born August 18, 1899 in Odesa, died July 29, 1978 in Katowice) - Polish painter, graphic artist, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice.From 1919 he attended the former Wojciech Gerson Drawing School. From 1923-1929 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in the drawing and painting studio of Miłosz Kotarbiński, Tadeusz Pruszkowski, Karol Tiche, and graphic design with Władysław Skoczylas. From 1936 to 1939 he taught drawing at the Faculty of Interior Design, Graphic Design and Sculpture in Warsaw. During World War II, he was in Warsaw, seriously ill with tuberculosis. Then, in 1942, during an air raid, a bomb hit the apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Rak: his wife, Janina Rakowa, was killed, the apartment and most of their works were destroyed.After the war, Mr. Aleksander Rak moved to Gliwice[1]. The second period of his life and work is 1945-1969.He was co-organizer of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice[2] and its professor. He headed this academy, serving, among other things, as its first dean and, until 1969, as head of the Department of Graphic Arts, and in 1956 he received the title of professor.He educated many outstanding artists. His students included: Waldemar Świeży, Stefan Suberlak, Andrzej Czeczot, Jerzy Duda Gracz, Jan Nowak, Leszek Rózga and Stanisław Kluska, Konstanty M. Sopoćko.