Henryk Lewensztadt (1893, Lublin – 1962, Israel), Cityscape

Biography
He studied at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. However, he left Warsaw for Munich, where he delved into the secrets of the art of painting. After completing his studies, he returned to Lublin, where he gained great recognition as a creator of magnificent landscapes. However, he most enjoyed painting in Kazimierz. It was there that he created his most beautiful works—the Kazimierz landscapes. In 1930, he bid farewell to Kazimierz and Lublin—as it turned out, forever. He decided to embark on a long artistic journey, with Paris and its painting scene as his destination. Along the way, he visited Venice, Genoa, and Milan. He painted constantly, drawing inspiration from the experiences his journey brought him. From Paris, he moved to Nice, where he spent the final year of his time abroad. In 1933, he returned to Poland. However, he did not settle in Lublin, but in Zakopane. Lewenstadt spent the entire tragic period of the war with his wife in the Soviet Union, in the Siberian taiga. He returned to Poland in 1946, but only briefly. Three months later, he left for Israel. The nightmare of the war became an obsession for the artist. He wrote to a friend: “Of my entire family and my wife’s family, no one is left; they all died horrible, tragic deaths; everything went up in smoke...” He visited his homeland only once more, in 1960, when he toured his beloved Kazimierz, Warsaw, and Lublin. It is not known how the artist’s final years unfolded. Today, it is impossible to reconstruct the work of these artists, who—though popular and highly regarded during their lifetimes—were completely forgotten after the war. The memory of their work has recently resurfaced. For some time now, their paintings have begun to appear at major national and even international exhibitions. Henryk Lewensztadt’s paintings, often undated, are appearing on the art market. Several of his works can be viewed in the collections of the Lublin Museum and the Kazimierz Dolny Museum.