Wojciech Jastrzębowski

Wojciech Jastrzębowski was a Polish painter, graphic artist and engraver. He designed the pre-war coins of the 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50-grosze, and after World War II, designed the 2-Zloty (1958) and 5-Zloty (1959) coin. Jastrzębowski, who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków from 1904-09, was also a designer of interiors, furniture, fabrics, artistic crafts, and metal products. He also spent many years in Italy and Paris, but then settled in Kraków and was a co-founder of the Kraków workshops. He served in World War I as a member of the Polish Legions and also fought in the Polish-Ukrainian War in 1920. In 1923 he began teaching as a professor at the School of Fine Arts in Warszawa, and from 1936-39, served as its rector. In his teaching program, he focused on arts and crafts. From 1935-38 Jastrzębowski was Senator of the Republic of Poland.

Jastrzębowski moved to England in 1940, living there until 1947, where he was employed as an organizer and teacher in Polish émigré circles in Sudbury and Kingwood. During that time, he also started painting. After his return he became professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warszawa, and was a member of the Board of Culture and an activist for the Polish Visual Arts Union. His style began to be identified as the Polish version of art déco. He mainly used geometrical patterns, often combining them with aspects of folk art.