Bruno Schulz

Acquired by the original owner in Poland before 1939
Thence by descent to the present owner

Born into a wealthy family in Drohobycz, Galacia, Bruno Schulz studied architecture at Lvov Polytechnic. He began working on the cliché-verre illustrations for The Booke of Idolatry in 1920, while an instructor at Drohobycz Lycée. The series of prints depicts a world of desire and temptation. The Booke of Idolatry remained largely overlooked, as did Schulz himself, until the 1930 Spring Salon in the Palace of Art in Lvov.

The 1930's saw Schulz's development as a writer, and he gained great acclaim in 1933 following the publication of his novel The Cinnamon Shops, titled in English The Street of Crocodiles. While focusing largely on his writing through the 30's, his graphic work also attracted attention and critical fame. At the outbreak of WWII, Schulz was still living and working in Drohobycz which was at the time occupied by the Soviet Union. While initially somewhat protected by a German officer who admired his work, Schulz was shot in the street and killed by another German officer in 1942.

In the 1970's, his work was rediscovered through a series of exhibitions in France and in Belgium. Schulz is now considered one of the giants of Polish literature and art in the 20th Century.