Stefan Szmaj

1893 – 1970

A doctor by profession after the war worked as an ophthalmologist in Gdynia. Parallelly Szmaj was an outstanding artist associated with expressionism, a valued graphic artist and painter. Known as the representative of Bunt (Rebellion) – an artistic group operating in 1918 -1920 in Poznań. He dealt not only with graphics but also with painting and music. In the years 1917-1918 the artist made a series of expressionist linocuts valued by the critics, in which he often portrayed his friends.
Szmaj came into contact with new avant-garde trends in art during his stay in Berlin (1915-1916). The German variety of expressionism had an influence on the first period of Szmaj’s work. The subject matter of Szmaj’s works oscillated around the issues of the human psyche, communing man with nature, as well as supernatural beings.