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Although based in Scotland, working from his studio in Edinburgh’s Dean Village, Zyw’s outlook was distinctly European. Since the war his practice developed at pace, turning his back on naturalism in favour of an expressionist language in an attempt to make sense of the new world order. A decisive moment in his post-war development as a painter, was a trip made to France and Italy in 1949. The discovery of Paul Klee and a reengagement with the School of Paris was a helpful influence, and his paintings began to move towards an intellectual abstraction, rather than purely a vehicle for emotion. This painting, dating from 1951 was exhibited at his first Paris exhibition of the same year. In it Zyw has built up the surface of the painting with layers of colour, before applying intuitive black line with a loaded brush. The hieroglyphs are freely drawn, in them animals, numbers and shapes are combined in a fretwork of graphic line which is at once ambiguous but equally compelling. The French art critic Frank Elgar described the paintings in his Paris exhibition as ‘halfway between essence and existence, these paintings seem at first illogical, arbitrary, because they escape gravity and vulgarity. But whatever the origin of their conception and the secrecy of their execution, one cannot dispute their power of fascination.’
Zyw was born in Lida, Poland before moving to Warsaw at an early age. He enrolled in Warsaw School of Fine Art in 1926. A travel bursary in 1934 was to have a great effect on the young Pole, not only did it give him a taste for life outside of Poland, but it started a love affair with the Mediterranean which was to last a lifetime.
He found himself in Corsica when the War broke out, and travelled back to his home in Paris to enlist. After the French Army’s collapse Zyw escaped to Scotland to where the Polish Armed Forces were regrouping. After another spell on the front line as official war artist he settled in Dean Village in Edinburgh, before moving permanently to Italy in the 1970s. During his time in Edinburgh, he has a profound impact on the city with a number of notable exhibitions, including three with The Scottish Gallery, and later retrospectives organised by the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. He continued to paint up to his death at his olive farm in Castagneto Carducci in Tuscany, Italy.
He had his first one-man show at The Scottish Gallery in 1945. His most recent exhibition was held in November 2020 titled Before & After.
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