Maria Dunin

Maria Dunin spent her youth in the part of the Russian Empire that is now Ukraine. Since 1919, she studied painting and graphics at private art schools and the Warszawa Academy of Fine Arts, where she studied under, amongst others, the Olympian artists Władysław Skoczylas and Wojciech Jastrzębowski. She joined the group of artists “Ryt” and the Association of Polish Graphic Artists.

For the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic art competition, Dunin’s colored woodcut Tournament (aka Knights Tournament) was submitted. Created in 1928 the 19.3 x 25.4 cm size work was typical for this period. She worked almost exclusively on colored and colorized woodcuts, occasionally producing engravings and lithographs, and from 1931, emphasized in her work more, contrasting patches of black and white. Figures from the years 1934-37 show the artist’s interest in grotesque and sports themes. After World War II, she was no longer active as an artist. Dunin lived alternately in Warszawa and Kamianets, and from 1936, in Sierpc and Płońsk. Her twin brother Zygmunt (1907-1939?) was also a graphic artist.