"From the Koscieliska Valley", 32.5x42.5cm,oil/board,signed.p.d.:M.Stańko
Michal Stanko - landscape painter; lived in Miechow in his early youth. During World War I, he fought in the Legions. From 1927-1939 he lived mainly in Zakopane; he painted numerous Tatra landscapes and collaborated with Janusz Kotarbiński working on the polychrome of the new parish church (1932-1934). He also lived temporarily in Sosnowiec. He belonged to the - founded in 1929 by Stanislaw Szukalski - "Szczep Rogate Serce", taking the name of Michael of Sosnowiec. In 1939 he volunteered to join the army, taking part in the September campaign. In 1942 -1943 he made polychromy in a church in Koziegłowy near Czestochowa. After the war, he was associated with the Silesian artistic community, but permanently lived in his favorite Zakopane, where he had a studio. He painted landscapes; particularly Tatra landscapes, but also views from Silesia (Landscape from around Szopienice, 1962). In addition, he created still lifes, portraits, nudes and symbolic compositions. These were mainly oil paintings and, less frequently, watercolors.
