Ildefons Houwalt Art for Sale at Auction

b. 1910 - d. 1987

Ildefons Houwalt (born on January 23, 1910 in Nikolaevsk nad Amure , died October 27, 1987 in Poznan ) - Polish painter, second lieutenant of the Polish Army cavalry .

Ildefons Houwalt was born on January 23, 1910 in Nikolaevsk nad Amure, in the family of Bronislaw, entomologist, and Maria née Abramienko. In 1918 he returned to Vilnius with his family. In the years 1925-1931 he attended the Zygmunt August Junior High School in Vilnius, among others with Antoni Golubiew and Czeslaw Milosz .

From August 16, 1930 to June 30, 1931, he was a cadet of the Cavalry Reserve Officer Cadet School in Grudziadz. He graduated from the school with the 74th position and he was practiced in the 13th Regiment of Vilnius Uhlans in Nowa Wilejka . In 1935 he was appointed a second lieutenant in the cavalry reserve officers' corp .

In the years 1932-1936 he studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius, studying monumental painting under the direction of Ludomir Slendzinski . During his studies he became a member of the oldest Polish academic corporation - the Polonia Convention .

In 1934 he married Barbara Houwalt (Szopówna), also a graduate of the Department of Fine Arts of USB. In 1935 their daughter was born - Barbara Houwalt-Kostecka (painter and poet). In 1936, he and his wife joined the Vilnius Artists 'Workers' Cooperative (SPAW), which carried out orders for architectural works and decorative exhibitions and fairs (the purpose of the Group was to collect funds for a joint trip to Paris). He took part in painting and drawing competitions. In 1938, he took a job in the Municipal Board in Grodno as a clerk for the aesthetic ordering of the city.

In August 1939, he was mobilized and assigned to the cavalry squadron No. 44 for the post of platoon commander. In the ranks of this sub-unit he fought in the September campaign .

After being taken prisoner by 1941, he was in a prisoner-of-war camp in Radom. He returned to Vilnius and his family estate in Medina, he became a soldier of the Home Army. In 1941 he took part in a collective exhibition of Vilnius artists and war refugees. In 1943 he participated in the exhibition of graduates of the Department of Fine Arts of USB, and two years later in the exhibition of the Union of Artists of the Republic of Lithuania.

As a result of the repatriation, he moved with his wife Barbara Houwalt to Poznan (thanks to the support of Professor Waclaw Taranczewski ). From 1946 he participated in environmental exhibitions in Poznan, he became a member of the "Forma" visual cooperative. Until 1950 he worked as a graphic designer for 'Gazeta Poznanska', he also illustrated books (among others Przygody Mata Moreli by Wlodzimierz Steyer ). In 1947, together with Alfred Lenica and Feliks Maria Nowowiejski, he exhibited his works at the Salon of Fine Arts in Poznan. This exhibition, intended to counterbalance the Kapists , was recognized ex post as the first occurrence of the 4F + R group (Form, Paint, Invoice, Fantasy + Realism) and was the first exhibition of modern art since 1945 in Wielkopolska. In 1949 he took part in the second exhibition of the 4F + R group (up to three independent ones: Tadeusz Kalinowski , Zygfryd Wieczorek , Fortunata Obrapalska , Boleslaw Schmidt , Julian Boss-Goslawski and Bazyli Wojtowicz ).

The difference of opinions with A. Lenica regarding the possibility of joint implementation of the program was the reason for Houwitt's appearance in the 4F + R group. During this period, he painted mainly watercolors, gouaches and temperas.

In 1951 he was arrested by the Public Security Office and spent several months in prison, which resulted in developing illness and macabre dreams that did not leave him until his death, and at the same time were an inspiration for his work. In 1954 he received his own studio. He mainly dealt with oil painting, and then with the technique of dekalkomania . It was only in 1961 and 1963 that he decided to exhibit his series of oil paintings. In 1966, at the next individual exhibition in Poznan and Szczecin, he presented only temperas, using the effect of dekalkomania.

Recognition of the environment and criticism appeared in the 1970s. In 1971 he became the laureate of the City of Poznan and the Poznan Province. Two years later, he won the first Polish National Painting Competition J. Spychalski. He exhibited his works individually and collectively in Poznan, Gdansk, Bialystok, Szczecin, Klodzko, Zielona Góra, Warsaw, Essen and Wroclaw. The bonds of friendship connected him with the literary and artistic environment, among others with Edward Stachura .

In 1977, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of its creation, the National Museum in Poznan organized a retrospective jubilee exhibition of his works. In 1987, together with his daughter Barbara, he exhibited his works for the last time at BWA in Poznan and CBWA in Warsaw. He died on October 27, 1987 in Poznan. He was buried in the Junikowo Cemetery in Poznan [2] . Post-mortem retrospective exhibitions took place in 1991 at the Poznan BWA, in 2002 at the Castle in Kórnik and in 2008 at the Regional Museum in Wagrowiec.

In 1993 a book about the artist by Teresa Kostyrko was published. In 2009, a retrospective exhibition took place at the Municipal Gallery "Arsenal" in Poznan, accompanied by a book that attempted a new reading of his painting.

Ildefons Houwalt's works can be found in Polish and foreign museum collections. Starting from the 1970s, he was regarded by critics as the leading representative of fantasy painting in Poland.