Joanna, AWK’s granddaughter

Joanna Wierusz-Kowalska (born 4 July 1930 in Vilnius, died 26 April 2005 in Paris) – painter and conservator of paintings. She was the daughter of Czesław Wierusz-Kowalski, a painter, and the granddaughter of Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, a painter and a figure in the international artistic circles of Munich during the final decades of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her mother was Hanna, née Serafińska, from a family related to Jan Matejko. She grew up surrounded by artistic pursuits and interests. She was gifted in both music and the visual arts. She received her early education at private schools in Vilnius and in her father’s studio. In 1945, she repatriated to Poland with her parents and sisters. This event forever robbed her of her sense of belonging. She described it as follows: “[Emigration] happened only once in my life, as an act of violence – being expelled from the Vilnius region.” She continued her general education in Konin and Oliwa, where the family settled briefly. In 1950, she began studying art at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She soon dropped out in favour of the Faculty of Conservation, where she was a student of Bohdan Marconi, a friend of the family. After graduating in 1956, she returned to the Faculty of Painting. Her professor was Artur Nacht Samborski. Following her graduation, she travelled extensively throughout Europe with her husband, Jerzy Treutler, a graphic artist and designer. In 1962, she decided to emigrate alone. She settled in Paris. She worked as a conservator of easel and mural paintings, whilst also pursuing her own artistic practice. She became involved with the Polish artistic and émigré community in Paris. She remarried. From her marriage to Jerzy Turowski, she had two children, Marek and Katarzyna. She exhibited her paintings in France and Poland. In 2006, in accordance with her will, around one hundred paintings, sketches and studies by her and Czesław Wierusz-Kowalski were bequeathed to the Regional Museum’s collection. Joanna Wierusz-Kowalska’s mature work consists of non-figurative painting, reflecting the artist’s emotions and spiritual life.