Zygmund Jankowski Art
American, 1925-2009
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) was a dedicated and innovative painter, a colorful and generous personality, and a loved and respected teacher. His paintings have been exhibited nationally and internationally, and he has become one of the most important artists of his time on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, influential both as a painter and as the colleague and teacher of a generation of artists.
He was born into a Catholic family in South Bend, Indiana, where he raised a family and earned a living as a commercial illustrator. He began to summer on Cape Ann in 1964 and by the late 1970s had moved permanently to Gloucester, where he devoted the rest of his life to his art.
During his career, Jankowski explored a variety of styles. In the mature work, he is best described as a colorist and expressionist who paints traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional colors, compositions, and perspectives.
He disparaged imitation and delighted in breaking the so-called rules of art — not in rebellion, but from a deep understanding that perceived their limitations. He cultivated an intuitive, uninhibited painting process which allowed him to transcend conventions without rejecting them. He worked in series, painting the same subject up to twenty times in a day. “I could do the same subject a thousand times,” he said. “Each time I try it, there’s something different in me that responds.”
He neither planned nor sketched his paintings, but romanced each one anew, often to music, dancing with it, lunging at it, stroking it. While painting, he said, “you stand as a referee between the scene, your emotions, and the [painting], juggling emotion and logic, intuition and analysis.” He said his brush was a musical instrument; or he called painting foreplay and a painting the child of an artist and his subject. “For Zyg,” says a friend, “art was life, and life was art.”
Having artistic talent, he said, entails an obligation to get to work, and the choice to be an artist was a serious responsibility to a journey of self-discovery, seeking the mystery within oneself as well as within the subject. “Stay up late and do some work,” he exhorted artists. “Grab at life! Work as if five hundred years wouldn’t be enough to do all you want to do.” With tireless commitment to his art, Jankowski expressed his playfulness and wit, his generosity of spirit, and his exuberance for life in the vivid and unexpected colors and compositions of his paintings.
In Jankowski’s thoughtfully spontaneous process, one can discern a happy marriage of Catholic mysticism and obligation with the principles of Zen calligraphy, in which a few unpremeditated brushstrokes embody years of devoted study and practice. “If I’ve lost some of my religion,” he said tellingly, “my art has become all that much more important.”to
2
4
2
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
9
9
8
9
9
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
9
8
8
8
1
9
1
1
1
7
6
9
Artist: Zygmund Jankowski
Dealer: Matthew Swift Gallery
2 Pads
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...
Category
1980s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Watercolor
Autumn Landscape with Purple
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...
Category
1980s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Wine Bottles and Fruit on Table
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...
Category
1980s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Still Life with Settee
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...
Category
1980s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Hillside Barns
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...
Category
1980s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
White Farm
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...
Category
1980s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
The Path
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...
Category
1980s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Landscape with Farm
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...
Category
1980s Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Two Pink Trees in a Yellow Field
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...
Category
1980s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Related Items
Porcelain Red - Lake Landscape Window Flowers Fruit Botanical Still Life, 2024
By Melanie Parke
Located in Kent, CT
In this contemporary painting in oil on canvas, a cheerful interior scene is bright and inviting with a still life arrangement of red poppies, red flowers and pale pink dahlias in a ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 24 in W 24 in D 1.75 in
Red Tulips in a Tall Vase / watercolor
By Gary Bukovnik
Located in Burlingame, CA
'Red Tulips in a Tall Vase' original watercolor painted in 2018. in mainly red and green with blue and yellow from Cleveland-born and educated Gary Bukovnik who has lived in Californ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Sweetie Pie, Cyanotype, Flowers, Floral, Blue, Botanical, Work on Paper
By Cynthia MacCollum
Located in Riverdale, NY
Sweetie Pie is a Cyanotype by Cynthia MacCollum. It is 30x22 on archival paper. It is currently unframed. It is a beautiful botanical artwork filled with a range of blues. MacColl...
Category
2010s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Photographic Paper, Archival Paper
Red Camelia / watercolor
By Gary Bukovnik
Located in Burlingame, CA
'Red Camelia' original watercolor painted in 2018. in vibrant ruby red and green from Cleveland-born and educated Gary Bukovnik who has lived in California for over 40 years. Bukovni...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Rambling Rose, Jo Haran, Contemporary Floral Artwork, Original Work On Paper
By Jo Haran
Located in Deddington, GB
Rambling Rose by Jo Haran [2020]
original
Gouache, watercolour ink and gesso.
Image size: H:72.5 cm x W:52.5 cm
Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:76 cm ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Gesso, Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
Orchids, 2021 Ink pen, and watercolor on paper
By Manuel Santelices
Located in Miami Beach, FL
A new series inspired by architecture, décor and stylish personalities of the world of interior design.
The worlds of fashion, society and pop culture are captured in the illustrati...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Pen
Light Penetrates
By Ira Barkoff
Located in Greenwich, CT
Born in 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, Ira Barkoff’s paintings feature empty, Zen-like landscapes whose stillness reflects a location’s essence. Barkoff seeks to “portray a sense of vas...
Category
2010s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Clowning Around" - Contemporary still life painting, oil on canvas
Located in Nyack, NY
Michael Iskowitz creates colorful, seemingly playful paintings that often belie a more serious message. His process is somewhat spontaneous, fueled by a sense of exploration and disc...
Category
2010s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
H 36 in W 36 in D 0.5 in
Lily Study III
By Gary Bukovnik
Located in Burlingame, CA
'Lily Study III' by master watercolorist Gary Bukovnik, who fuses sensual vitality with fluid yet powerful colorations to create floral images of great depth, intensity, and size.
I...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Pair of Rococo-Inspired Watercolors Featuring Ornate Floral Wreaths Butterflies
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Pair of Rococo-Inspired Paintings
watercolor on artist paper, stuck on blue paper
painting: 12.75 x 10 inches
provenance: private collection
condition: very good and sound condition
Category
Early 19th Century Rococo Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Watercolor
Flower Vase, Yellow Watercolor painting on paper
By Manuel Santelices
Located in Miami Beach, FL
A new series inspired by architecture, décor and stylish personalities of the world of interior design.
The worlds of fashion, society and pop culture are captured in the illustrati...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Archival Paper
Assam - Contemporary Oil Painting Dining Room Fruit Flowers Still Life, 2021
By Melanie Parke
Located in Kent, CT
In this contemporary oil painting on canvas, there is a peaceful interior scene with a still life arrangement of two white pitchers, and delicate lilac and red flowers in a clear gla...
Category
2010s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 30 in W 30 in D 1.75 in
Previously Available Items
Barn and Garden
By Zygmund Jankowski
Located in Gloucester, MA
Zygmund Jankowski painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and delighted in break...
Category
1980s Contemporary Zygmund Jankowski Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Zygmund Jankowski art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Zygmund Jankowski art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Zygmund Jankowski in paint, canvas, fabric and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1980s and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Zygmund Jankowski art, so small editions measuring 23 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Eric Edward Esper, Liz Dexheimer, and Pauline Ziegen. Zygmund Jankowski art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,700 and tops out at $18,000, while the average work can sell for $9,000.