ROMAN MODZELEWSKI

Born in 1912 in Łoździeje, Lithuania, died in 1997 in Lodz, Poland. Studied at the Academy of fine Arts in Warsaw, under the supervision of Felicjan Kowarski and Leonard Pękalski. Master’s degree in painting in 1946. In year 1937 participated in Polish section’s exposition at the World Exhibition in Paris. He co-organized the beginnings of the Academy of fine Arts in Lodz, where he was a professor for 37 years and a provost for 12 years. At first Modzelewski created his works under the influence of impressionism. Inspired by Strzeminski’s “solarism” he experimented with form and colour. In the 40. and 50. he started to create simple and clear compositions based on abstraction and geometry.                                                                        
Roman Modzelewski was also a avant-garde designer. He was one of the first artists in Poland, experimenting with plastic in the 50.  The first prototype of Modzelewski’s two armchairs was presented in Warsaw in 1957. One of the greatest designer – Le Corbusier - was interested in buying Modzelewski’s patent from the year 1961 - his most known model of a plastic armchair. Le Corbusier intented to implement this model in to mass production. Unfortunately, at that time cooperation between Poland and France was practically impossible. After many years of trying to realise Le Corbusier’s and Modzelewski’s plans, the boundary turned out to be insurmountable. In the 60. Modzelewski processed the „Silhoulette” – Poland’s first plastic yacht, designed by an English constructor, Tucker. In the 70. and 80. Modzelewski designed another famous yachts: „Amulet” and “Talizman”.
Modzelewski’ s paintings are in many collections in museums in Poland and abroad (among others: Museum of Art in Lodz, National Museum in Warsaw, Museum in Vienna), and in many private collections