Watercolor on paper, signed and dated lower right: “Teod. Grott 1922.”
Dimensions with frame: 35.5 x 23.5 cm (23.5 x 29.5 cm)
Teodor Grott (Częstochowa 1884–1972 Kraków)—painter and draftsman. Son of Jan Nepomucen and Wiktoria. His father was a painter, a student of Wojciech Gerson, and the creator of religious paintings; he ran his own studio in Częstochowa. After graduating from high school in Częstochowa, Teodor studied from 1903 to 1908 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, first in Florian Cynk’s studio and later under the guidance of Leon Wyczółkowski. In 1908, he went to Italy on a scholarship, staying in Rome and Florence; in 1909, he traveled through Ukraine; and in 1910, he visited London and Paris. In 1912, he returned to Italy, this time staying in Sicily. He was friends with Feliks Jasieński “Manggha,” whom he portrayed, and he also painted objects from Manggha’s collection of Japanese art. He painted in oils and watercolors, mainly landscapes of the Tatra Mountains, Italy, and France, as well as still lifes with flowers, old architecture, genre paintings, portraits, and nudes. He also created pastels, prints, and lithographs. In 1910, he married Wanda Kamieniecka (1886–1978). In 1913, together with his wife, he founded a kilim workshop on Starowiślna Street in Kraków, for which he created his own designs. The workshop operated throughout the interwar period. Starting in 1910, he exhibited his paintings at shows organized by the Society of Friends of the Fine Arts in Kraków, where he served as office manager and treasurer. From 1949 to 1961, he served as director and exhibition organizer, as well as an honorary member of the Society. From 1912 onward, he was also a member of the “Sztuka” Society of Polish Artists. In 1931, Teodor Grott, as chairman, and Marcin Samlicki founded the “Group of Ten” art association in Kraków, whose members included: Kazimierz Chmurski, Eugeniusz Geppert, Henryk Gotlib, Wlastimil Hofman, Alfons Karpiński, Stanisław Popławski, Zbigniew Pronaszko, and Czesław Rzepiński. Teodor Grott also presented his work at, among others, the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Design in Paris (1925) and exhibitions of Polish art in Prague (1927), Budapest (1928), Copenhagen (1930), Berlin (1934), and Padua (1937). On November 11, 1937, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. In 1955, he received a gold medal from the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Kraków, which had organized his solo exhibitions in 1947, 1952, and 1960. In 2021, the Częstochowa Museum organized the exhibition “Roses, Not Roses—The Faces of Art by Teodor and Wanda Grott,” featuring paintings, prints, and kilims from numerous Polish museums and private collections.
