Samuel Szczekacz

(1917 – 1983)

Samuel Szczekacz came into the world in the industrial city of Łódź on 3 May 1917, into the wealthy family of Roman (Abram Hersz) Szczekacz and Julia (Jenta) Offenbach, who ran the
Central Baths bathing complex at No. 38 Zachodnia Street.

In 1934 he started to develop his artistic talents at the studio of Maurycy Trębacz. As early as 1935, Szczekacz graduated and got introduced to Władysław Strzemiński by Jankiel Adler and Moses Broderson—founders of the Jung Jidysz group. In 1936 the young Jewish artist attended private evening classes under Strzemiński’s watchful eye at Public Vocational Training School No. 10 in Lodz. Strzemiński acquainted his students both theoretically and practically with the achievements of the avant-garde. Communing in the Urban Museum with original works, and in periodicals or teaching aids prepared by their professor with reproductions of works by universally recognized authorities, in a short time, the students not only mastered the principles espoused by the professor for creating compositions that were Cubist, Suprematist, Neoplastic or Surrealist, they also encountered the possibility of connecting languages of visual expression that were
seemingly remote from each other.