Bronze, cold-painted, signed.
Height: 21 cm
Wacław Bernard Szczeblewski (Pelplin 1888 – 1965 Gdynia) – Polish painter and sculptor. From a very young age, Wacław showed a talent for drawing; he was constantly “doodling” and sketching. The boy’s extraordinary talent caught the attention of professors at the Collegium Marianum in Pelplin. Thanks to them, Stefan Lewicki (a painter from Bobowo who had studied in Rome) and the financial support of Bishop Augustyn Rosentreter, Szczeblewski was able to begin his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden after graduating from high school in 1908. His studies lasted a long time, continuing until 1918 due to an interruption during World War I; Wacław took the lower-level painting course with Professors Wehle and Stert, the intermediate-level course with Prof. Schindler and Prof. Muller in 1908, the advanced class under Professor Bantzer, and the academic master class under Professor Kuhl (1913–1915) and Professor Hofmann (1915–1917). He later traveled to Paris, London, Vienna, Leipzig, Copenhagen, and Munich to further his knowledge of art, exhibiting his works in the academic pavilions of those cities. He participated in a number of exhibitions; in 1919, he received an award from the Dresden Academy, and in 1927, he was honored at an exhibition in London. During the occupation, he was involved in the underground activities of the “Gray Ranks.” Starting in 1933, he organized the Art School in Gdynia and later became its director.
