Jan Cybis

Jan Cybis (16 February 1897 - 13 December 1972) was a prominent Polish painter and art teacher.

Cybis was born in Fröbel (now Wróblin, Opole Voivodeship, Poland) and studied at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, settling in that city from 1934. The German Expressionist Otto Mueller was his mentor. He studied under Józef Pankiewicz among others, developing a reputation for a post-impressionist style using rich, saturated color influenced by the French.

In the 1930s Cybis was among the most prominent of the Kapists or Paris Committee, a significant group of Polish painters of the time. His wife Hanna Rudzka-Cybisowa (1897-1988) was a notable painter in her own right and also active as a Kapist.

Among other recognitions Cybis was awarded the Polish commumist government's Order of the Banner of Work in 1949 and the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland in 1955, although during the Socialist Realism period Cybis was prevented from teaching for ideological reasons. Among his notable students was Tadeusz Dominik.

Cybis is buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery, Warsaw. His memoirs were published in 1980.

Since 1973 the Association of Polish Artists and Designers (Polish acronym ZPAP) has issued a prestigious annual Jan Cybis Award to Polish visual artists for creative achievement. Its recipients include:

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