Dimensions: 59 x 43 cm
Signed p.d.: 'ST. BENDER'
On the reverse a paper sticker with the number: '5.
Biography
He was born to a Jewish family in Lodz, Poland, in 1882 and spent his youth here. Initially he intended to become a merchant, continuing the family tradition. After graduating from high school, he took a job at a lithography shop. In his spare time he then began to paint small pictures. In 1904, probably encouraged by local artists, he went to study in Paris (Academie Julian), where he attended lectures by Jean Paul Laurens and Jules Lefebvra. He supported himself by working as a lithographer. After four years, he went to Munich, where he studied printmaking with Peter Halm and Ludwig Heterich. He took additional jobs to finance his studies. He designed posters, did drawing and interior decorating. Stanislaw Bender was also known as an illustrator of books on Jewish themes. He probably visited Lodz during this time, but there is no mention of the artist's exhibitions in the local press. Around 1912 he settled in Munich. He exhibited his works in galleries there. These were bright paintings with a strong tone, showing scenes from the lives of poor Polish Jews, intimate religious scenes. In 1921, Bender took part in an exhibition of Jewish art in Lodz. The last information about him was in 1922 in the Neue Lodzer Zeitung and in 1923 in the Republic, where his ten-day stay in Lodz was announced, in order to "carry out major commissions from several Lodz industrialists." He lived and worked in Munich until 1930. He survived the World War II period in Lourdes, France. A painting of his in one of the altars in Lourdes - "The Ecstasy of St. Bernardetta" - is interesting; he made it after the war ended.
