12 Facts About Franciszka Themerson

Franciszka Themerson was a Polish, later British, painter, illustrator, filmmaker and stage designer.

Franciszka Themerson had older sister, the illustrator and pianist Maryla Weinles-Chaykin.

Franciszka Themerson graduated from the Chopin University of Music and the Warsaw School of Fine Arts with a distinction in 1931.

Franciszka Themerson was principally a painter, although throughout her life she worked in several other fields of the visual arts: illustration, stage and graphic design.

Franciszka Themerson collaborated with her husband, the writer Stefan Franciszka Themerson, on experimental films: Apteka [The Pharmacy], Europa, Drobiazg Melodyjny [Musical Moment], Zwarcie [Short Circuit] and Przygoda Czlowieka Poczciwego [Adventure of a Good Citizen].

Franciszka Themerson illustrated books for children written by her husband and others, and in 1948 she founded with her husband the quirky publishing company Gaberbocchus Press, of which she was the art director.

Franciszka Themerson began exhibiting her work in the early 1950s, and was included in the London Group, show at New Burlington Galleries in 1951.

Franciszka Themerson continued to exhibit her work regularly at galleries throughout Europe including London, Paris, New York, Warsaw, Stockholm, Edinburgh and other cities during the following decades.

Franciszka Themerson's work was presented in the Ubu Cent Ans de Regne exhibition at the Musee-Galerie de la Seita.

Franciszka Themerson was included in the group exhibition, Presences Polonaises at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris in 1983.

In 1993, Lines from Life, the art of Franciszka Themerson was organized for the Foyer Galleries, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall, London.

Franciszka Themerson's 1947 painting "Eleven Persons and One Donkey Moving Forwards" attracted particular comment.