Piotr Tadeusz Potworowski was born on 14 June 1898, in
Warsaw, then part of the
Russian Empire. After the war in 1920 he studied design in the
Warsaw University of Technology then in the following year moved to the
Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and discovered
French painting. In 1924 he travelled to Paris as a member of
Komitet Paryski (KP), a group of young painters, and stayed there for seven years immersing himself in avant garde culture of that period. For a short time he joined the studio of Fernand Léger and was a leader in organising the Bal Polonaise which was attended by Picasso, Braque and other artists. In 1927 he spent three months working on a French commercial
schooner and followed this in 1928 with an exhibition of ships at the Claridge Gallery, London. He married Magdalena Mańkowska in 1929, and he returned to Poland in 1930, where their son Jan was born. They lived near Poznań in Rudki Palace which was owned by his wife's family and in which they hosted, for months on end, fellow artists and officers from his regiment. In 1935 the family moved to
Grebanin, a village near the town of
Kępno in which he initiated a regional museum and commenced a large fresco in the town hall. In 1936 Anusia, his daughter was born. He exhibited frequently in Poland and in 1937 was awarded a silver medal at the
International Exhibition of Art and Technology in Paris. He fought in the
1939 campaign and when that collapsed attempted to reach allied forces in
Narvik. When the fall of France made this impossible he settled in
Sweden where he continued to paint and sculpt, and organised an exhibition of Polish-Norwegian Art. In 1941 his family joined him but in September 1943 he was ordered to join the
Polish Army in Britain. On arriving in
Scotland in a
Mosquito, he was told that he was too old for front-line duty and was stationed in London. There he engaged with enthusiasm in the Polish cultural life, was appointed President of the Association of Polish Artists and joined the exclusive
London Group. A number of exhibitions in London led to a position in the
Bath Academy of Art,
Corsham, where he significantly influenced the creative thinking of a new wave of British painters such as
Peter Lanyon,
William Scott, and
Patrick Heron. Every two years he exhibited in the
Gimpel Fils Gallery. In 1958 he was invited to work in Poland. There followed four very intensive years where he not only produced his most powerful paintings but also sculptures and scenography projects. He had his first exhibition at the
National Museum in Poznań, 1958, then in National Museums of
Kraków,
Gdańsk,
Warsaw,
Wrocław and
Szczecin. The very good reception of his work contributed to his decision to stay in the country. He exhibited in the
Venice Biennale in 1960 receiving a silver medal and also in the Galerie Lacloche, Paris. He died on 24 April 1962, in Warsaw and was buried in the
Powązki Cemetery in the Avenue of Merit. ==Influence==