Personalities of the interwar period portrayed by Leopold Gottlieb
- 11.11.2025
How to consolidate a spirit of independence still without a country of its own? For Leopold Gottlieb the answer was clear: with easel and rifle. Gottlieb did not passively observe the forming of the Polish Legions in 1914. As a soldier artist he captured the historic moment when Poles were creating anew their identity.
Among his sitters was Józef Piłsudski himself – an icon of independence. The 1915 portrait, made in the heat of battle, is more than just a depiction. It is an intimate study of a leader at the key moment of history, immortalised by a man who had his own part in the great cause.
We take the opportunity offered by the Independence Day to point out once more that art was an inseparable witness and co-creator of those events. An artist like Gottlieb not only painted history – he lived it and fought for it. His portraits are the most noble form of patriotism – memory preserved in art.
Galeria
Personalities of the interwar period in portraits by Leopold Gottlieb
A board with the title of a series of infographics.
Jan Chmieliński (1892–1962)
A diplomat, translator, philosopher, employee of the Polish consulate in Paris. The portrait was painted in Zakopane in 1919.
Józef Piłsudski (1867-1935)
The portrait was executed around 1915.
Paul Langevin (1872–1946)
A French theoretical physicist, pedagogue and educational activist, Maria Skłodowska-Curie’s lover.
Józef Wittlin (1896–1976)
A poet, prose writer, essayist, translator of The Odyssey and Gilgamesh, collaborator of Radio Free Europe.
Project co-funding
Co-funding for the project was provided by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund.