Nov 23, 2021 - Sale 2589

Sale 2589 - Lot 113

Price Realized: $ 1,300
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

STEFAN NORBLIN (1892-1952)

POLAND - UPPER SILESIA / OLD WOODEN CHURCH. 1925.


39 1/2x24 3/4 inches, 100 1/4x62 3/4 cm. K. Kozianskich, Warsaw.
Condition B+: replaced top margin; repaired tears, creases and restoration in margins; minor restoration in image; repaired pin holes in corners.

Norblin was a painter, illustrator, set and costume designer, portraitist and poster designer. In 1939, he left Poland and wound up in Iraq, where he painted portraits of the royal family. World War II prevented Norblin from returning home, and in 1941 he moved to India where he stayed for five years. While there, he was commissioned to design the interiors of the royal palace at Umaid Bhawan including murals, furniture and portraits. This led to other commissions to design interiors for several other palaces. In 1946, unwilling to return to his homeland now under Communist control, Norblin moved to San Francisco, where he continued painting portraits, including that of General Douglas MacArthur, which hangs in the Pentagon. Norblin took his own life in 1952 when he was diagnosed with glaucoma and couldn't face the prospect of losing his eyesight. Biblioteki Glownej 182, Polish Poster 93.