Zofia Stryjeńska

Zofia Stryjeńska (née Lubańska; 1891 –1976) was a Polish painter, graphic designer, illustrator, stage designer, and a representative of art deco. Along with Olga Boznańska and Tamara de Lempicka, she was one of the best-known Polish women artists of the interwar period. In the 1930s she was nominated for the prestigious Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature but declined the offer.

In the first half of the 1930s she was a forgotten artist. Stryjeńska did not want to seek recognition. She desperately needed money, as she sold few paintings. Only in 1938 did she receive several orders from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including one for a kilim for the Emperor of Japan Hirohito. She took part in the interior decoration of the Polish passenger ships "Batory"and "Pilsudski" and the interior decoration of Wedel's cafe. People started buying her paintings of Slavic and historical themes again.

Beggar with Child, 1937

She spent the second world war in Kraków. In 1943 she discovered she had syphilis, which affected her eyes so that at times she could not paint. In the beginning of 1945 the Russians entered the city, instituting a communist regime and she refused to join the communist-run Polish Writers' Union. Stryjeńska decided to leave Poland. She joined her children in Geneva.

Refused entry to the US, she continued to live very modestly in Geneva, helped by her children. She remained emotionally connected with Poland and the Polish culture, Switzerland remained a foreign country to her. She died on 28 February 1976 in Geneva at the age of 84 and was buried in the local Chêne-Bourg cemetery.