Annie Hurel Proszynska / Anna Prószyńska (1924–2008), Cérémonie
Hand-colored lithograph, 64 x 49.5 cm.
Signed in pencil in the lower right corner. Numbered (147/160) in pencil in the lower right corner; title in pencil in the lower left corner.
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Annie Hurel Proszyńska—painter. She was born in 1924 in Nogent-sur-Marne. She studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in Nicod’s studio, then at Atelier 17 and with Jacques Hallez in Marseille. She lived successively in Paris, Orléans, and Le Havre, and in 1964, she and her husband settled permanently in Nice. Starting in the 1950s, Annie Proszyńska participated in group exhibitions at the Hamon Gallery in Le Havre; she later exhibited her paintings at the Yves Michel Gallery (Paris), as well as at the Salon d’Automne in 1960, the Salon des Femmes Peintre in 1961, and at the First Graphic Arts Biennial in Kraków in 1966.
Critics praised her colorful paintings, but Proszyńska gradually turned more and more toward printmaking, especially from the 1970s onward. She drew inspiration from her travels along the Mediterranean coast, ancient cultures, as well as her yoga practice and passion for sailing. She exhibited her works in many cities in France and abroad: in Malmö, Milan, Basel, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In 1981, the Salon des Artistes français commissioned 160 pieces of “Cérémonie” from her, printed in her studio for the Bibliophiles de France. She illustrated books by writers who were spiritually close to her and, like her, drew inspiration from antiquity—these collaborations resulted in exceptional, collector’s-item works.
Annie Hurel Proszyńska died in Nice in June 2008.
