Lavandières à Biskra/ Washerwomen at Biskra, c. 1917
Oil on canvas
35 x 45 ¾ in. (88.9 x 116.2 cm.)
Private collection
Biskra, also called (after 1981) Beskra, town, northeastern Algeria, on the northern edge of the Sahara. It is the centre of the Zab (Ziban) group of oases south of a wide, open depression between the Aurès Massif and the Tell Atlas Mountains. More on Biskra
Adam Styka , born April 7, 1890 and died September 23, 1959 in Doylestown (Pennsylvania) , was born in Poland in 1890. He completed his formal education at the French Academy of Fine Arts, and painted closely under the tutelage of his father, Jan Styka. Each year Adam exhibited his paintings in the Paris’ Salon de Paris, Champs Des Elysses and others in Europe and countries of both Americas.
After graduating from the French Military Academy in Fontainebleau, Adam served in the French artillery during the World War I. He was decorated with a Cross of Merit. Also as a reward, he was granted the French “Nationality Citizenship” and a special assistance from the French Government to visit French colonies in Northern Africa. As the result of these annual journeys, Adam developed an entire genre of Middle-Eastern and Oriental themes.
Adam Styka passed away on 23rd of September 1959 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. More Adam Styka
Zaidan Gallery 