Ignacy Łopieński
Polish, 1865-1941
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Ignacy Łopieński was a Polish graphic artist, medalist, sculptor, painter, and co-founder of the Society of Friends of Graphic Arts.
Ignacy Łopieński was born into a family of bronze smiths in Warsaw. His father, Jan, was a bronze smith and chaser, and his mother, Feliksa, née Widawska, was the daughter of Warsaw bronze smith Jan Widawski. Unlike his brothers Grzegorz and Feliks, who were bronze casters, he devoted himself primarily to graphic art. He initially studied at the Warsaw Drawing Class run by Wojciech Gerson and Aleksander Kamiński. He also studied sculpture under Bolesław Syrewicz, practiced in engraving workshops in Warsaw and Berlin, and attended the École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Łopieński's education was most influenced by his studies in Munich, which he began in October 1888 at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste.
There, he attended the copperplate engraving class (Kupferstecherschule) led by the reproduction graphic artist Prof. Johann Leonhard von Raab. While still a student, in addition to reproduction graphics, which was the main focus of his education, he also created original (workshop) graphics. He received awards and distinctions at exhibitions in Munich, Berlin, St. Petersburg, and Lviv for his graphic reproductions of paintings by Anna Bilińska, Kazimierz Pochwalski, and Jan Matejko. Łopieński became a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts and the Warsaw Artistic Society.
Around 1900, the graphic artist brought an intaglio printing press to Warsaw, which enabled him to pursue his artistic and teaching activities freely. His Still Life with a Skull dates from this period. His experience and advice were sought by Leon Wyczółkowski, Józef Pankiewicz, Józef Rapacki, Czesław Tański, Apoloniusz Kędzierski, Leon Szpądrowski, Jan Felicjan Owidzki, Julian Maszyński, Leon Kowalski, Henryk Weyssenhoff, and Zofia Stankiewiczówna, among others. Łopieński also taught drawing to young craftsmen at courses organized at the Museum of Crafts and Applied Arts, and collaborated with Feliks Jasieński on the creation of the first Polish artistic graphic portfolio of the Association of Polish Graphic Artists (Krakow, 1903). In 1904, he left for France to further his education. He maintained contact with Mela Muter, whom he portrayed twice in his graphic works.
In 1912, Łopieński co-organized and joined the board of the Society of Friends of Graphic Arts in Warsaw, which organized lectures, graphic arts courses, competitions, and exhibitions. During World War I, he was an active social activist working on behalf of artists as part of the Citizens' Committee of the Capital City of Warsaw in the Visual Artists Subsection of the Section for Assistance to the Intelligentsia. After the war, he became a member of the Association of Polish Graphic Artists, the Society of Polish Visual Artists “Rewja,” the Professional Block of Visual Artists, and the Society of Friends of Warsaw History. He remained professionally active as a graphic artist, painter, and teacher until the end of his life. He taught drawing at girls' secondary schools in Warsaw and graphic techniques at the Wojciech Gerson School of Fine Arts and the Blanka Merècre School of Fine Arts. His students included Jadwiga Habrik-Wiśniewska.
Ignacy Łopieński died childless in 1941 (the date 1944 is often incorrectly published in literature). He was buried in Warsaw's Powązki Cemetery in his father's grave (plot 32–2–17).