Mojżesz Rynecki
Mojżesz (Moshe) Rynecki (born in Międzyrzec Podlaski in 1881; died in Majdanek in 1943) was born in a moderately wealthy orthodox family. He was taught painting privately by artist Ignacy Gajewski in Siedlce, and later studied at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw (1906-1907). Rynecki’s watercolors and drawings show the multifaceted image of life in the poor Jewish districts of Warsaw. He mostly portrayed scenes of labor.
Rynecki began drawing at an early age. According to family lore, he used to use chalk, or sometimes paint when he had some, to draw figures on the floor and walls of his home. According to a memoir written by his son, George, "Not once was he actually beaten for breaking the commandment, 'Thou shalt not create images.'" He once explained his drive to paint to his son. He told him, "God gave me talent and I truly don't believe in breaking that natural trend. I simply have to do it. If He wouldn't want me to paint, I wouldn't have that tremendous urge and desire to immortalize on paper or canvas what I see. I simply am a writer of sorts, instead of words, I leave my messages in pictures. I don't feel to trespass the Bible's saying about images."
Very rarely did he paint symbolic scenes, landscapes, or portraits. Self-portraits like the one in the collection of the Jewish Historical Institute, painted in 1931, are extremely uncommon in his oeuvre.
We present today's work thanks to the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. If you would like to know more about Rynecki, his works can be viewed on the Delet portal.
And one more thing: the great-granddaughter of the painter, Elizabeth Rynecki, is searching for her grandfather’s art lost during World War II.