Edward Okún (1872-1945)

Edward Okuń was a Polish Art Nouveau painter. He painted landscapes, portraits, designed covers and llustrated magazines, including the German magazine “Jugend”. 

Okuń was born in 1872 to a noble family and was orphaned early. He grew up with his grandparents on the maternal side. After inheriting a large fortune, he soon began drawing lessons with great painters. In 1891 he studied at the Warsaw School of Drawing.

From 1891-1893 he studied under the direction of Isidore Jablonski and Jan Matejko at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts. He continued his studies in Munich and Paris. In 1897 Okuń went to study with Simon Hollósy who founded the artists’ colony in Nagybánya, Hungary.

For the next 20 years he lived in Rome and also traveled to Sorrento, Amalfi, Capri, Venice, Padua, Ravenna, Florence and Siena. Okuń returned to Poland in 1921 and settled in Warsaw. From 1925 he was a professor in the School of Fine Arts. He was a member of the Society of Polish Artists.