17 Facts About Alina Szapocznikow

Alina Szapocznikow's childhood was disrupted by the outbreak of World War II.

Alina Szapocznikow was later imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen before being transferred to Terezin in 1943.

Alina Szapocznikow's education continued at the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, under Paul Niclausse.

Alina Szapocznikow participated in numerous competitions for public monuments conforming to the doctrine of Socialist Realism in Soviet-aligned Poland.

Alina Szapocznikow was born in Kalisz in 1926 to a Jewish family.

Alina Szapocznikow's father, Jakub, was a dentist and her mother, Ryfka "Regina" Auerbach, was a pediatrician.

Alina Szapocznikow barely spoke of her war experiences during the entirety of her life.

Alina Szapocznikow trained as a sculptor in Otokar Velimsky's studio in Prague from 1945 to 1946.

Alina Szapocznikow was diagnosed with peritoneal tuberculosis, which was not treatable at the time.

Alina Szapocznikow became romantically involved with Polish graphic designer Roman Cieslewicz.

In 1962, Alina Szapocznikow was offered a solo show in the Polish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Back in Paris, Alina Szapocznikow started to produce casts of her breasts, stomach, and legs.

That same year Alina Szapocznikow started making her "tumor" sculptures using resin, gauze, crumpled newspapers and photographs.

One of the last works that Alina Szapocznikow worked on was a purely conceptual project.

In recent years, Alina Szapocznikow has been "rediscovered" by the public and major museums have organized shows including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Alina Szapocznikow is known for her sculptures of the fragmented female.

In 1959 Alina Szapocznikow created the sculpture Bird in her studio in Warsaw.