Katerina Wilczyński: Berlin, Rome, Paris, London

Katerina Wilcczynski (1894-1978) immigrated to London in 1939. She drew and created a rare record of war damaged London  and was integral to the post-war emigre impact on London’s art arena. Her draughtsman is widely recognised as having few equals and when she passed in 1978 she left her art estate to her dear friend Professor Michael Kaufmann of the Courtauld Institute of Art. The estate has been generously gifted to Ben Uri to be dispersed by further gifts to institutions and by sale for the benefit of the charity institution following his passing in 2023. 

 

This exhibition rediscovers Katerina’s travels and brings her work to London and digitally to a global audience for the first time in some 40 years. The exhibition includes the opportunity to acquire works never seen in public before.

 

Katerina Wilczynski, a Berlin-trained graphic artist born in Posen (now Poznań, Poland), created a body of work celebrated for its architectural precision and emotive landscapes. A Jewish émigrée, her career spanned major artistic hubs in Europe, including Berlin, Paris, Rome, and London. Her experiences shaped her unique style, blending meticulous line work with themes inspired by mythology, Mediterranean life, and war-torn Europe.

During World War II, Wilczynski documented Blitz-stricken London, earning recognition from the War Artists’ Advisory Committee. Postwar, she continued to explore Mediterranean motifs, with exhibitions in London and publications such as Homage to Greece (1964). Her portraits of prominent figures like T.S. Eliot and Louis MacNeice reflect her deep connection to her contemporaries and the émigré community.

Represented in collections such as the V&A, National Portrait Gallery, and the Ashmolean Museum, Wilczynski’s work endures as a testament to her artistic sensitivity and resilience.