Lis, Edward

Edward Lis - (b. 1915) artist, painter
photograph from the Pinkowski Institute collections
Art Exhibit - Sponsored by Polish Heritage Society
Polish Heritage Society of Philadeiphia has arranged an art exhibition of the works of Edward Lis at the Library of Holy Family College, Grant and Frankford Avenues, from May 3 thru 17. The exhibit will be open 10 to 4 daily, except Sunday. The public is cordially invited.
Edward Lis began his art career in 1939 when, as an officer in the Polish Army, he was captured by the Germans and placed in a series of prisoner-of-war camps both in Poland and Germany. Fellow prisoners included six of Poland's artists. By 1945 when he was liberated by American forces, those artists had taught him all they knew.
After liberation he joined the Polish Second Corps in Italy where he remained until his outfit was sent to England and finally demobilized. While in England he continued to study at the University at Leicester and at the Sir John Case Art School-London University. It was then that his flair for portraiture manifested itself. He arrived in the United States in 1951 and has been a United States citizen since 1956.
In addition to the many portraits painted of well known British and European personalities, Lis has painted, numerous prominent individuals of this country. These include commissions of their presidents by The Union League of Philadelphia, Merrimack College and Villanova University. He has had over twenty one-man shows, and his paintings, both portrait and landscape, are owned by many private collections in the United States and abroad.
Edward Lis is also a noted teacher. He conducts classes at the Chester County Art Association, Wayne Center, Conshohocken Art League, and various private art clubs along the Main Line.
He is a member of the Oil Painting Committee of the Philadelphia Art Alliance and a member of the Philadelphia Water Color Club.
From: "Gwiazda" (Polish Star) April 24, 1969, p. 1

Edward Lis

Painter, teacher

Born Mar. 1915, Poland, came to U.S., 1951

Education: World War II Prisoner of War (POW) camp, Murnau (Germany), 1939-45; University of Leicester (United Kingdom); scholar to Sir John Cass, London University, 1949-50

Career: teacher (painting), tri-state region

Author: 40 one man exhibitions; numerous group exhibitions; portrait painter, John Cardinal Krol, Polish President in Exile August Zaleski, Princess Lubomirska; painting on permanent exhibition, American Council of Polish Culture (A.C.P.C.), Washington (DC)

Member of: American Artists Professional League; Philadelphia Art Alliance; Chester County Art Association; Wayne Art Center; Greater Norristown Art League

Languages: Polish, English

Home: 953 Mayberry Road, Gulph Mills, PA 19428

From: "Who's Who in Polish America" 1st Edition 1996-1997, Boleslaw Wierzbianski editor; Bicentennial Publishing Corporation, New York, NY, 1996