Oil on cardboard, signed lower left “Jan Świderski.”
Dimensions with frame: 38x48 cm (29.5x39.5 cm)
Jan Świderski (Grodziec 1913–2004, Kraków)—Polish visual artist, creator, and art theorist. He studied from 1930 to 1938, first graduating from the State School of Decorative Arts and Artistic Industry in Poznań, and then from the Academy of Fine Arts—Department of Painting in Kraków. As a volunteer with the Academic Legion, he participated in the September 1939 campaign, as a result of which he spent the occupation period in a prisoner-of-war camp. After 1945, he organized the Union of Polish Visual Artists in Kraków. In 1947, the then Department of Art Education of the Ministry of Culture and Art appointed Jan Świderski to the position of independent research fellow, entrusting him with the role of professor at the Higher School of Fine Arts in Kraków. In 1950, he became president of the Kraków branch of the Association of Polish Fine Artists (ZPAP). At the Academy of Fine Arts, he served as vice rector for teaching, curriculum, and student affairs; he then served as rector for one year, while simultaneously leading the painting studio. In 1968, at the newly reopened Department of Graphic Arts, he took over the Chair of Painting and Drawing, heading it until his retirement in 1984. He mentored many artists of European and international stature. He was the recipient of first- and second-class awards from the Minister of Culture and Art, as well as numerous Grand Prix, exhibition awards, and competition prizes both in Poland and abroad. He participated in over 170 national and international exhibitions and plein air events. Throughout his life, he maintained strong ties to his hometown, regularly participating in the “Będzin Landscapes” plein air painting events, meeting with residents, and seeking artistic inspiration in Będzin and Grodziec. In 2000, he was named an Honorary Citizen of the City of Będzin by a resolution of the City Council, adopted at the request of the Society of Friends of Będzin. From 1933 to 1936, he was a member of the KZMP; from 1935 to 1938, he was a member of the KPP; from 1946 to 1948, he was a member of the PPR; and from 1948 onward, he was a member of the PZPR. He was awarded, among other honors: the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Gold Cross of Merit, and the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People’s Poland.
