Marian Mokwa

Marian Mokwa (born April 9, 1889 in the village of Malary, today a district of Borsk and part of the rural community Karsin (German: Karschin ); † June 15, 1987 in Sopot ) was a painter, traveler and Polish patriot .

Life

The artist comes from a wealthy, Kashubian farming family. His parents were Franciszek Mokwa and Paulina geb. Kuczkowski, the family consisted of three brothers and two sisters. He received secondary education at the Collegium Marianum (1901–1903) in Pelplin and at the grammar school (1903–1906) in Prussian Stargard (Polish: Starogard Gdański ), where he belonged to a secret philomaths association.

In 1906 he attended the Kunstgewerbeschule in Nuremberg for a semester and then the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich . From 1908 to 1909 he took courses with W. Schtiver and A. Vogl at the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin . During this time mainly watercolors were created .

The artist then traveled to Europe. From 1911 to 1914 he lived in Constantinople and further trips led him to Jerusalem , Persia , Egypt , Ethiopia , India , Tibet , Mongolia and the Caucasus . He served as a military painter in the Prussian army during World War I , after having worked for the Turkish army before the outbreak of the war .

1918 Mokwa was in Sopot ( Sopot down). He lived there until his death. In 1922 he married the Polish violinist Stefania Łukowicz , whom he had met in Berlin in 1917. The couple had two sons and two daughters. The family lived in the villa " Aidelaide " with their in- laws .

When the Second World War broke out , Mokwa's name was on the lists of the SS home army. While searching for the artist, one of his brothers in Kościerzyna (until 1920: Berent ) was murdered. The painter was spared any further actions aimed at annihilating the Kashubian intelligentsia . However, the artist family had to move into the basement of the villa and perform heating and cleaning services for the German officials who took possession of the upper floors. The new beginning in 1945 was also difficult, the NKVD first moved into the villa, followed by Polish services. For a period of time, Mokva painted new street signs for the Sopot City Council. The artist received support from the Polish Navy.

Act

Mokwa is one of the most popular artists on the Polish Baltic coast . In a creative period of more than eighty years, he created over 9,000 oil paintings, watercolors and thousands of drawings. Although he has become known as a marine painter, his works also include landscapes such as his Kashubian homeland or the Tatras , cityscapes, flowers, portraits and historical war scenes.

From 1925 moved it three years the art and literary magazine "Fale" (waves), which he printed in his own basement.

In 1934 the artist established a national, maritime gallery " Galerię Morską " in Gdynia (until 1920: Gdynia). Many Polish marine painters exhibited their works here. Mokwa's contribution to this was a historical cycle of 44 paintings entitled " Apoteoza Polski Morskiej " ("Glorification of the Polish Sea"). The gallery became known throughout the country and was to become the nucleus of an art center with a concert hall, theater and cinema. In the period between the wars, Mokwa was also a member of the jury of the Kashubian culture award "Bursztynowe drzewo" (amber tree).

After Gdingen was captured, all of the artist's works were deliberately burned on September 14, 1939; the person in charge was Major General Carl von Tiedemann . The gallery was known as the "forge of Poland". After the war, Mokwa was expropriated as a "capitalist" and the gallery building, which he had previously renovated, was nationalized by the People's Republic of Poland . His heirs got the house back in 1990. In 1959 he was the only Pole to be invited to an exhibition of British marine painters.

Honors

Mokwa's birthplace in Malary and his house in Sopot are marked with memorial plaques. In the city of Gdańsk (until 1945: Danzig ) the high school " XIX Liceum Ogólnoksztalcacego " is named after the painter. In 1979 the artist was made an honorary citizen of Sopot, and a street here also bears his name.

Works (selection)

• Apoteoza Polski Morskiej ( Glorification of the Polish Sea ), cycle of pictures , destroyed in 1939
• Żuraw Gdański ( Danzig crane gate ), destroyed in 1939

See also

• Stefania Łukowicz-Mokwa (1892–1975), wife and violinist

literature

• Krzysztof Wójcicki: Rozmowy z Mokwa. 1997
• Krzysztof Wójcicki: Mokwa: akwarel. , Volume 1. Excalibur, 1992
• Wojciech Zmorzynski: Marian Mokwa: malarstwo. Bernardinum, 2003.

Web links

• Tomasz Kot: Mistrz morskiej fali (with a portrait of Mokwas). Retrieved February 13, 2013 . 
• Marian Mokwa: sailing ship on the sea. Retrieved February 13, 2013 . 
• Marian Mokwa: Fisherman. Retrieved February 13, 2013 . 
• Works by Marian Mokwa. Retrieved February 13, 2013 . 
• Works by Marian Mokwa (auctions 2003–2009). Retrieved February 13, 2013 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ MOKWA Marian ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 13, 2013 
2. ↑ Sopot - Odwiedzamy willę malarza Mariana Mokwy ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 13, 2013  
3. ↑ Tomasz Kot: Mistrz morskiej fali  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 13, 2013