Timeline

1906

Born on June 16 in Sosnowiec, Poland

1914 - 1920

Spent his childhood and youth moving around in Russia, as his family escaped from the advancing German forces and subsequently had to hide from the Communists

1931 - 1936

Studied painting at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts; met Jewish painter Lutka Pink

1932 - 1937

Exhibited at Loza Wolnomalarska (Lodge of Free Painters)

1937

Won a State Scholarship to Italy and Paris; settled with Lutka Pink in Paris

1939

Married Lutka Pink; volunteered for the Polish Army in France

1940

After France signed the Armistice with Germany, the Polish army was disbanded and all Polish soldiers were advised to make their way to the South of France or Spain

1941

Caziel and Lutka were sheltered by Blaise Cendrars in Aix-en-Provence before being moved by the French Resitance to the Auvergne

1944 - 1946

Caziel and Lutka back in Aix-en-Provence

1946

Moved to Paris

Caziel and Lutka moved back to Paris. Despite being promised important teaching posts as well as state sponsorship for his work by the Polish authorities, Caziel chose to stay in Paris, to protect Lutka from the shock of having to return to the country where she lost all her relatives in Auschwitz

Designed the Polish Pavilion for UNESCO International Exhibition of Modern Art

1947

First one-man show at Galerie Allard, Paris; met Picasso with whom he developed a long friendship

1948 - 1956

Exhibited annually at the “Salon de Mai” in Paris

1948

Met Picasso, with whom he developed a friendship

1951

The Musée National d’Art Moderne purchased one of his monumental canvases

The Vatican commissioned four large paintings for their Museum of Modern Religious Art

1952

Fell in love with the Scottish painter Catherine Sinclair. Together they moved to Ponthévrard, just outside Paris

1953

Designed frescoes for French architect Jean Ginsberg

1957

Married Catherine Sinclair

1958

Catherine and Caziel’s daughter Clementina born

1963

Exterior design for a fresco for the Atomic Energy Commission at Tollemache House, Thurso

1966 - 1968

Exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, London

1966

First one-man show in London hosted by the Grabowski Gallery

1968

Second one-man show at the Grabowski Gallery, London

1969

Moved his family from Ponthévrard to Somerset, England

1978

Exhibited at the National Museum, Warsaw – Circle of Tadeusz Pruszkowski

1983

Exhibited works on paper at the Summer Exhibition at Fair Maids House Gallery, Perth

1988

Died in Somerset

1990

Memorial Exhibition at the Polish Cultural Institute, London