Jan Ekiert, Red Arabesque, 1949

Jan Ekiert was born in 1909 in Kombornia (now in Podkarpackie province). In September 1939 he was taken prisoner of war and spent time in POW camps. After the war he settled in Paris, where he studied at the Ecole des beaux-arts and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, among others. He was associated with the Parisian post-war émigré community, including the Culture circle. In 1961, he received Culture's art prize. His works were frequently exhibited in Parisian galleries, and are currently held in French and Polish private and public collections (including the Museum of Art in Lodz, the National Museum of the Przemysl Region in Przemyśl).