Miniatures by Jan Markut
March 24-April 19, 2002
The exhibition Miniatures by Jan Markut presents the work of a well-known painter associated with Rozwadów.
Jan Markut was born in 1928 in France, to a family of emigrants from Poland. Just before World War II, the Markut family returned to Poland. During the occupation, as a young boy he worked in a Rozwadów sawmill to protect himself from being deported to Germany. After the war, he was educated at the Poznan High School of Fine Arts and then at the Academy of Fine Arts there. In addition to his talents as a painter, he showed great musical aptitude, studying voice at the Conservatory of Music at the same time as the Academy of Fine Arts. In the 1970s he moved permanently to the US.
He became particularly famous as a miniaturist. A series of portrait miniatures depicting US presidents from George Washington to Bill Clinton became his famous work. He was a member of the Union of Polish Artists, as well as foreign prestigious creative associations, such as: Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers in London, Miniature Artists of America. He died in 1993.
Jan Markut was born on February 26, 1928 in Ars-sur-Moselle, France. When he was 10 years old, the Markuts (parents Roman and Antonina with sons Jan and Tadeusz) returned to Poland. They settled in Bydgoszcz, where his father took a job servicing a military airport. In September 1939, after demobilization, they escaped from the Germans to the east, their wandering ended in Rozwadów, where the father’s entire family lived. Here they survived the time of war and the German occupation. Roman Markut was arrested and taken to the quarries in Gross Rosen for belonging to the Home Army Janek had to take a job at the Rozwadów sawmill to avoid being deported to Germany for labor.
After the war, he graduated from a public school in Rozwadów – even then his drawing teacher, later headmaster, Ferdynand Mazur recognized the boy’s talent. He then attended the Rozwadów Gymnasium, located in the Lubomirski castle, the current home of the Regional Museum. His further artistic education took place at the High School of Fine Arts in Poznań (from 1948), and then at the Academy of Fine Arts there, from which he graduated in 1954. At the time, he also studied vocalism at the Conservatory of Music and sang solos in the choir of the Polish Radio in Poznań. He defended his master’s thesis in interior design under Prof. Boguslawski in Warsaw.
In 1955, he married Krystyna Sawa, a Lviv native, who he met in Rozwadow when he was visiting his parents from Poznan.
They settled in Silesia.Two sons were born to them, Tomasz and Maciej.Jan Markut designed the interiors of stores, cafes, clubs and restaurants in Upper and Opole Silesia.He designed and printed decorative textiles and painted portraits and icons.In February 1972, he and his family moved to the United States. First they lived in Chicago, and after six years they moved to Florida.
There Jan Markut, thanks to his great talent and persistent work, gained a high position in the art world as a miniature painter.Such a difficult specialty as portraiture in miniature was his greatest passion.It charmed him through its detail, accuracy precision.
He also produced beautifully illuminated calligraphies and icons. He often reproduced images of old icons, as well as created his own, richly gilded in carved frames made from a single piece of wood.
He gained great fame in the US for his series of miniatures depicting American presidents, starting with Washington and ending with Clinton. He painted this collection for 11 years. Of course, these years also saw the creation of his other works, which he exhibited at international miniature exhibitions.
He belonged to a number of art associations, the most prestigious of which was the Royal Society of Miniaturists in London, under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth II. He prided himself on his membership in the Polish Association of Artists.
He won many awards at exhibitions, and in London he was twice awarded the Golden Bowl for the quality of the works he exhibited.
He was well known in the art world, with publications in the media about his work and the awards he received.
He died in the U.S., November 15, 1993, and in 2001 his ashes were brought to Poland and on May 26 were solemnly buried in the Rozwadow cemetery, in the grave of his parents.
