Happy 129th birthday Lunia Czechowska!

August 15, 2023

Ludwika Makowska, affectionately known as Lunia, was born on August 15, 1894, in the Praga district of Warsaw. Best known for inspiring Amadeo Modigliani, her own story deserves to be remembered too. Her deep friendship with the Italian painter was just part of her life.

An artist herself, she lived a long life that spanned 95 years: beginning in Warsaw and ending in Nice. Her father was a socialist and anarchist who faced imprisonment when she was a child, so the family moved to Krawkow, where they remained until Makowka finished school.

From there, she made her way to Paris. This is where she made the acquaintance of Modigliani, and also met Kazimierz Czechowski, who she married in 1915. She suffered a great loss only five years later, when her husband disappeared in Siberia.

Eventually, she found love again, marrying Lucjan Choroszczo (an actor and director also known as Zenon). Ludwika Makowska-Choroszczo went on to run a quaint art gallery on Rue de Seine in Paris, before retiring to Nice in her later years, living there until her death in 1990.

Her image lives on in Modigliani’s paintings, which inspired us to create our Art Squared version of Portrait of Lunia Czechowska.

 

Image credit: Amedeo Modigliani, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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