In honor of Women’s History Month, the Museum of American Porcelain Art (MAPA) has mounted an exhibit recognizing seven women who made major contributions to the history of art porcelain. Five of them represent the Cybis studio; each has an Artist Profile on this site (bolded links). Museum Curator Carey Barone designed the lovely wall-spanning [...]
The existence of some circa-1940s pieces that are dual-marked M.B. Cybis and also have the vertical monogram MC strongly suggests that the MC actually meant “Marja Cybis herself made this item.” This post collects all of the MC-marked pieces so far discovered; they are typically a sub-set of those that are marked M.B. Cybis, which [...]
Although the 1939 Polish Pavilion murals have been referenced in numerous bio-snippets about Boleslaw Cybis, I was unable to locate good photographs of them until very recently. There were nine murals, based on three very different themes. The Seven ‘History of Poland’ Murals These were commissioned in early 1938 by a committee that was directed [...]
What was once a brief moment of idle curiosity several years ago has recently blossomed into a question that resulted in the title of this post. It was rather a surprise because, given the type of art created by Boleslaw Cybis himself, Staffordshire export china would seem a very unlikely genre to appeal to him. [...]
When researching Cybis porcelain it is rarely possible to point to two different sculptures and definitively state “This became that” in its entirety (body-snatching doesn’t really qualify, although numerous instances of that practice have been found.) This is especially true when it comes to the earliest (1940s) pieces, many of which were either one of [...]
Although the studio always emphasized Boleslaw as its founder, his wife Marja Cybis was a talented artist in her own right and no doubt contributed just as much to its success as he did. Unfortunately she has gotten short shrift in Cybis studio literature, relegated to a brief mention or a description in a timeline. [...]
Recently an Archive reader sent me photos of two charming little papka figures made by Marja Cybis in the early 1940s (1940-1942) while the studio was in the Steinway Mansion. Although best recognized for her papka angels – such as the Angelic Orchestra – these figures are in her whimsy/folk-art style. My first reaction [...]
The coexistence of the Cordey and Cybis studio lines during the 1940s occasionally resulted in some interesting 'crossover' pieces. One such piece is a bust of a bearded elderly man, perhaps a sage, signed MC indicating it was by Marja (a/k/a Maria) Cybis, wife of Boleslaw. This piece sold online in 2011 and these four [...]
Angels and cherubs emerged from the Cybis studio ever since its earliest days in 1940s New York where Boleslaw and Marja Cybis created their frescoes and sculptures. The angels below are listed chronologically. None of them were limited editions. An intriguing group of six angels produced between 1940 and 1942 in “papka” composition was the [...]
The horse was featured throughout the Cybis studio’s history; a few equines even appear as early Papka pieces created in the 1940s. This post will focus only on the ‘real’ horse studies; the mythological equines are shown in Unicorns and Pegasi, and the Carousel Horses are profiled separately as well. I have sorted these Cybis [...]
THE CYBIS ARCHIVE 