Natan Korzeń (1895–1941) originated from Płock, but his life was connected with Warsaw, where he studied at the School of Fine Arts, lived and exhibited, among others, at theJewish Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, the Art Propaganda Institute (where he most often exhibited his works) and at Czesław Garliński's private Salon (1930, 1936). Over the years, Kazimierz Dolny became an increasingly important place for him. For the first time, he came here with his professor Tadeusz Pruszkowski, who was not only his teacher and master, but also a friend. Pruszkowski's famous painting plein-airs in Kazimierz attracted students and young, aspiring artists.
In the 1930s, Korzeń spent long months in Kazimierz, participated in art exhibitions at Kamienica Celejowska, prepared by the Art Section of the Society of Friends of the city of Kazimierz (1932–1935). He made friends with Maria Kuncewiczowa and the family of Tadeusz Ulanowski, the mayor of Kazimierz. Soon, from a holiday ``regular``, he turned into a ``local``: "And in the evening in the lovely café Paradis people come to talk. There are writers including the president of the Jewish Club Pen [Jecheskiel Jeszaja] Trunk, Tunkeler [Józef Tunkel], [Adam] Ważyk, Anatol Stern, [Adolf] Rudnicki, Kuncewiczowa, [Maurycy] Szymel, Celina Beckerowa and others. The painters include Korzeń, [Józef] Śliwniak, [Henryk] Barciński, [Henryk] Rabinowicz and many others" (B.J., List Kazimierza, Nasz Przegląd 1937, No. 210, p. 11).
In the town on the Vistula River, Korzeń painted many of his most beautiful landscapes and portraits, including Kazimierzanka, a romantic, expressive portrait of a young girl.
As usually, the artist spent the summer of 1939 in Kazimierz. He was there when World War II broke out. He stayed in Kazimierz for a long time in the fall of 1939, and finally left for Vilnius. He was murdered by the Germans in the summer of 1941.
The painting is a gift of Liliana Alexander from Canada, the painter's cousin.
Renata Piątkowska