Boleslaw Biegas Polish, 1877-1954

Boleslaw Biegas was one of a large number of Polish artists working in fin-de-siecle Paris. There he found a more kindred artistic environment in which to flourish. The conservative Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow had expelled him in 1900; however, with strong support from the editor of Paris' Symbolist literary and artistic revue, La Plume, and membership in the Salon d'Automne, Biegas firmly established himself among Paris' avant-garde and the artistic establishment. Biegas also maintained ties to Modernist groups in Poland, such as Sztuka, exhibiting regularly in Warsaw and Krakow. And as Poland fell under the rule of the Hapsburg's Austrian Empire, Biegas was part of a significant Polish contingency of artists who were exhibiting members of the Vienna Secession. In addition to his solo shows in Paris, Biegas exhibited from 1912-1927 at the Societe Nationale de Beaux-Arts. Even after Poland's independence after the Great War, Biegas continued to live in Paris. Artistically at home there, he chose to remain for the duration of his life.