Witold Wojtkiewicz was a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 neoromantic

Young Poland

Young Poland is a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the ideas of Positivism...

 painter. He started his education at the Warsaw School of Drawing in 1898 and continued at the Academy

Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts

The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, or Kraków Academy of Fine Arts , located in Kraków, Poland, is the oldest Polish fine-arts academy, established in 1818.It is a state-run university that offers 5- and 6-year Master's degree programs...

 in Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

. His original and inventive work anticipated Polish Expressionism

Expressionism

Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...

. Wojtkiewicz often employed grotesque motifs and irony in his work. He was influenced by the modernist paintings of Stanisław Wyspiański and Jacek Malczewski

Jacek Malczewski

Jacek Malczewski was one of the most famous painters of Polish Symbolism. In his creativity he successfully joins the predominant style of his times with motifs of Polish martyrdom.-See also:...

. In his art, he reflected the ideas of Romantic poets such as Cyprian Norwid

Cyprian Norwid

Cyprian Kamil Norwid, a.k.a. Cyprian Konstanty Norwid is a nationally esteemed Polish poet, dramatist, painter, and sculptor. He was born in the Masovian village of Laskowo-Głuchy near Warsaw. One of his maternal ancestors was Polish King John III Sobieski.Norwid is regarded as one of the second...

 and authors such as Stanisław Przybyszewski and Edward Abramowski

Edward Abramowski

Edward Abramowski was a Polish philosopher, libertarian socialist, anarchist, psychologist, ethician, and supporter of cooperatives....

, the originators of Polish Expressionist manifestos. He also worked as an illustrator and postcard designer. One of his most famous works was a watercolour entitled "Spring is Approaching." Witold Wojtkiewicz was a regular contributor to the legendary Zielony Balonik

Zielony Balonik

Zielony Balonik was a popular literary cabaret founded in Kraków by the local poets, writers and artists during the final years of the Partitions of Poland. The venue was a gourmet restaurant of Apolinary J. Michalik called the Michalik's Den...

art-and-literary cabaret.

External links

• Witold Wojtkiewicz, sample caricature from Teka Melpomeny (lithograph). ArtNet past auction results
• Wojtkiewicz Paintings Galeria Malarstwa Polskiego