"...Accompanied by a large, black-spotted, white German dog named Aron - a very original-looking Roman Bilinski: colourful beret, red socks, Franciscan sandals, snake-skin waistcoat, baggy trousers, long Tartar-style moustache, noble, stubby and determined. He was stateless, without citizenship, which, by the way, he never sought, because he felt he was a citizen of the world. A polyglot, he knew eight languages very well; Roman loved beautiful women, horses, vodka, chisels and paintbrushes".

Roman Biliński's biography is not well documented; it is drawn on the basis of, sometimes contradictory, information contained in publications, found materials, studies by other researchers and stories and information made available by members of the artist's family.

It is known that Roman Biliński was born on 15 July 1897 in Lviv. His father was Piotr Biliński, while his mother's name remains unknown.

Between 1919 and 1922, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, where he graduated as an artist-sculptor. He is also said to have studied in Lviv, where, according to information provided by the artist's grandson Luigi Capelli, Biliński was said to have attended classes with Professor Zygmunt Rozwadowski. Roman Bilinski's education was interrupted by the October Revolution in 1917. It was then that Roman's father was murdered by a local peasant and the Bilinski estate was taken over by the Bolsheviks.

In 1920, he married a Russian woman, Nina Antonomovna, with whom he travelled to Turkey, specifically Constantinople. His presence in this city was already recorded in 1920, when he joined The Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople. This group, whose leaders were the charismatic Vladimir Stepanovich Ivanoff (founder and chairman) and Dimitri Ismailovitch (organiser of exhibitions) (see illustrations), is worth dwelling on here. Members included artists such as Tatiana Alexinsky-Loukina, Astafiev (Astori), Vladimir Bobritsky, Nikolai Saretzki, Nikolai Kalmykoff, Kaissaroff, Nikolai Peroff, Sabaneeff, Fedoroff, Nikolai Saraphanoff, Iraida Barry. Other members included Bolesław Cybis, who stayed in Constantinople until 1922, and, until now unidentified, a figure signed with the initials "V.P.-Tch." (Viktor Prokopovich-Czartoryski?).

The Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople, during its short existence (only two years), realised some nine exhibitions, held in places such as Mayak [Russian Lighthouse/Phare Russe at 40 Bursa Street or MacMahon - Taksim military barracks.

It is worth noting at this point that the Union was not a homogeneous group, the artists presented different styles and languages of artistic expression, which constituted the extraordinary richness of this group. In addition to exhibitions, reports, and regular meetings to discuss current issues related to the general cultural and political situation, the Union also provided a haven for emigrating artists, sometimes in difficult life situations. As we read in Ekaterina Aygun's text, it "helped its members find work, supported them in difficult times, and did not allow to be discouraged those who were tired and weakened".

In the years that followed, Bilinski created a series of portraits of Polish diplomats and Turkish personalities with whom the artist established friendly relations. These included the likes of Stefania Olszewska, wife of Ambassador Kazimierz Olszowski, Madaleine Nieduszyńska (see illustrations), Consul General Roman Wegnerowicz (see illustrations) and his wife, Janina (see illustrations), or Jerzy Potocki, Ambassador in Ankara in 1933-36. Of Turkish personalities, these would include: Députè Selah Cimcos, Députè Fazil Ahmet, Youssuf Zia Pacha, Allamah Muhammad Iqbal, Seyfeddin Thadée Gasztowtt, Fadil Ahmet Aykac, Gülsüm Kamalova, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk).

In June 1934, his first personal exhibition was held at the Polish House in Istanbul, where he presented both his sculptures and paintings (see illustrations). In July of the same year, he took part in the annual Galatasaray Exhibitions exhibiting eight of his sculptures alongside artists such as Nikolai Kalmykoff, Nikolai Peroff and the progressive artist Melek Celal Sofu, whom Bilinski portrayed in terracotta (see illustrations).

In addition to realising portraits for important and respected personalities, Bilinski, according to the information on his 'Application for IRO assistance' form, worked as an art expert for the British Eastern Carpati Company - S. HAIM - between 1925 and 1939.

In addition, according to information provided by the artist's grandson, he was to teach painting at Robert Collage. This information has been repeated in publications, but no documentary evidence of Roman's presence at the college has yet been found. The only reference that might suggest his presence is that given in the Report of the academic year 1926/27 ('Report of the Preseident and Faculty of Robert College at Constantinople for the 64 year (1926/1927', p. 6). In the table showing the cosmopolitan nature of the teaching staff, information is given about one lecturer of Polish origin.

In addition, hitherto unconfirmed but often quoted information is that the artist was, as indicated by Kemal Ataturk, commissioner of the restoration work on the Hagia Sophia (1931-1949), carried out under the direction of Thomas Whittemore, and that he was involved in the reorganisation of Muslim art museums by acquiring collection objects from all over Turkey.

Certainly Bilinski made many journeys into the interior of the country, as evidenced by his paintings of Balkan landscapes. Bilinski's stay in Adampol [Polonezköy] is worth mentioning at this point. There he made a commemorative plaque for the anniversary of the death of Adam Mickiewicz [ill. 8] and a series of paintings depicting a Polish village near Istanbul (see illustrations). One of them is a portrait of a Polish activist, Zofia Ryza (see illustrations).

Biliński became fascinated with the culture of the Middle East and began to study Byzantine icons, Persian and Turkish decorative arts including ceramics, and the customs of the Ottoman Empire. All these inspirations would recur in his later works.

During the years spent in Constantinople, Bilinski's first marriage ended; his second life partner became the French poet and artist Claire Duriez (see illustrations).

At the end of the 1930s, after several years, the Turkish period came to an end and the couple embarked on numerous journeys, which Bilinski meticulously had to list in his IRO forms. Biliński's destinations were Yugoslavia, France, Greece, Switzerland and Italy. In Trieste at the time was the consul Roman Wegnerowicz, whom he often visited and who issued a special document certifying the artist's Polish origin and Christian faith (see illustrations). Such a paper certainly made it easier for Bilinski to travel. In 1938, his two paintings: portraits of Roman Wegnerowicz and Zofia Ryza, were exhibited at the national Salon organised by the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Kraków.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, the couple lived in Sarajevo for the next five years (1940-1945). Despite political tensions, the artist did not stop in his artistic activity and kept his atelier. In May 1941, he was arrested by the Ustaše police but was released the very next day. According to family stories, he was saved by his relationship with Leon Bilinski (1846-1923).

In 1945, Bilinski and his French partner re-entered Italy. During this time, the artist joined the Polish Red Cross, which is commemorated in the painting The Red Cross Military Camp (1945) (see illustrations), and was then accepted into the 2nd Polish Corps, where he worked in the propaganda office. From this period comes the painting Field Mass/Messa al campo (1945), which is now in the Polish House in Rome (see illustrations).

In 1946, he found himself in Camogli, where, at the age of 49, he met an Italian woman, Marcella Conte (Cecè) (see illustrations). As we read in her memoirs:

"...we had to meet, to end together the chaotic whirlwind of his previous life, from the Great War to the Russian Revolution, from the assassination of his father to the Second World War with its concentration camps, and he finally put down roots so that he could develop in relative peace, work and, at some point, choose painting as his main expression".

In 1949 he settled permanently in Bordighera on the Ligurian coast, where he first lived in the Beodo area (Alta Bordighera) and in the following years bought a villa on Via Coggiola. He had a studio there and his children Diana Clara and Ettore Peter were born there (see illustrations).

The artist also had his studio in Milan on via Brera 3. In this city Bilinski stayed during periods of artistic events. He made similar trips to Paris or Geneva. He would return to his town during holidays or between exhibitions. He would then work in his garden, which he called 'La Selva' ('The Forest').

A stabilised private life was conducive to Bilinski's artistic activities. In his memoirs, Marcella Conte writes of three or four canvases painted a day. Exhibition activity also increased significantly. As early as 1950, he had his first exhibition at the Florida Gallery in Bordighera. Since then Bilinski has exhibited both in Italy (including Naples, Turin, Milan, Rome, San Remo, La Spezia, Genoa, Biella) and abroad (Paris, Geneva, New York)16.

Roman Biliński maintained constant contacts with the Polish community abroad. Among his warm friends were consuls Roman Wegnerowicz, who left for Canada after the Second World War, and Tadeusz Nieduszyński, who in turn settled in England. In Italy, there was a Polish community mainly associated with the cultural and scientific centres there. His frequent guest was Bronisław Biliński - then director of the Polish Academy of Sciences Station in Rome. In addition, he was friends with Eric Lipiński, whom he met at the Salone Internazionale dell'Umorismo in 1966, and with Bolesław Cybis. His circle of acquaintances also included Thomas Mann and his daughter Monika. According to information provided by the artist's grandson, Biliński maintained contacts with artists such as Oskar Kokoschka and Carlo Carrà.

As a sculptor and painter, Roman Bilinski did not have a single style. He was described in the press as a violent, yet sensual and romantically sentimental artist, who in his paintings 'combines various confluences of Nordic expressionism: fauvist colour, realism, post-impressionism, the sonorous consonance of the colour range'.

His inspirations, starting from his Polish roots, are drawn from his many life experiences and journeys. His love of Byzantine and Oriental art strongly influenced his own work. "Curious about all European atmospheres, artistic and social, a connoisseur of sorrows and joys, sometimes mournfully gregarious, sometimes worldly, sensual and pleasant, often fiercely barbaric and brutal. In fact, his Post-Impressionism feeds into the most important contemporary artistic revolution. (...) he knows that art is not based on aesthetic escapes and isolations, but on a living presence, that is, on concreteness'.

The artist's favourite motifs (see illustrations) were still lifes, landscapes, animals - horses above all and his beloved dogs, self-portraits and also portraits both of his family and friends and of observed, anonymous people who represented the climate and character of the places in which he lived.

"Bilinski depicts flowers, landscapes, still lifes and figures, painted with a sure hand, with colour often bright and luscious, in an expressive manner in which one senses an eclectic mix of tastes and experiences from Impressionism to Fauvism. It often achieves an immediacy and freshness of experience'.

He was also a great admirer of nature, and in his early years in Italy Roman built up a magnificent collection of cacti and succulents. [ill. 31] In the newspaper Il Secolo XIX of 1 September 1949, we read:

"A visit to the home of the well-known Polish painter Bilinski, who has been a guest in Bordighera for several months, in this small villa on Via Beodo, is a truly fascinating experience. There you can admire not only his precious paintings, self-portraits and sketches, but also his collection of succulents, maintained with the care of a true expert, which Bilinski turned out to be. Kind and expansive, he took us to his nursery and here we admired all the rarest succulents. In the living room, among the many works, similar plants are in the foreground, which captivated us both with their colour contrasts, perfect maintenance and the intensity of harmony that the artist is able to give to all his paintings. Bilinski intends to remain among us, where, he told us, he found friends and, along with his ever-present smile, handed us a glass of vodka."

The artist died of a heart attack on 26 March 1981. His gravestone, which also contains his wife (d. 16.03.1987), is located in his beloved family garden (see illustrations).

Most of the artist's works are in auction houses in Poland and are available for viewing on websites such as: https: //artinfo.pl/artysci/roman-bilinski/archiwum .

An invaluable source of photographic documentation is the artist's family, above all his grandson Luigi Capello, who is continually committed to keeping the memory of his grandfather alive. At this point I would like to thank him immensely for all our correspondence and our joint search for new information about Roman Bilinski.

Footnotes

1. M. Farotto, R. Bilinski. Suggestioni slave ed orientali nell'estremo ponente ligure, San Remo 2002, pp. 11: ...in compagnia di una cane alano bianco a chiazze nere, di grosse dimensioni, di nome Aron - un personaggio dall'aspetto molto originale "Roman Bilinski": basco colorato, calze rosse, sandali da francescano, gilet in pelle di serpente, pantaloni larghi, baffi lunghi alla tartara, il volo nobile, asciutto e volitivo. Era apolide, senza una nazionalità, che comunque non aveva mai cercato di ottenere, perché si sentiva cittadino del mondo. Poliglotta, conosceva molto bene otto lingue; Roman amava le belle donne, i cavalli, la vodka, scalpello e pennello".
2 E. Prządka, "Roman Biliński - pittore polacco z Bordighery", Testimonies/Testimonianze. In Search of Beauty. Polish Visual Artists in Italy (2nd half of the 19th century and 1st half of the 20th century), vol VII, Rome 2014, pp. 359-373 and M. Farotto, R. Bilinski. Suggestioni slave ed orientali nell'estremo ponente ligure, San Remo 2002; M. Carta, A. Jacob (a cura), Roman Bilinski, Torino 1985
3 The Arolsen Archives contains scans of the 'Application for IRO assistance' documents:
(https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/topic/3-2-1-2_03020102-004-413?s=roman%20bilinski),
4. researcher Ekaterina Aygün has attempted to reconstruct Roman Bilinski's artistic activities within the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople: E. Aygün 'What Russian-Language Publications Tell Us about Refugee Life in Occupied Istanbul', Yillik: Annual of Istanbul Studies, 2002, no. 4, pp. 99-105;
5 E. Aygün, 'METROMOD Archive ISTANBUL (Russian-speaking émigré artists:
https://archive.metromod.net/viewer.p/69/2949/types/all/geo/;
6. E. Aygün, 'The Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople (1921/1922-1923) as an Émigré Artists' Collective', Cultural Encounters. Istanbul and the Refugees from the Russian Empire (1919-1923) lecture available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynMXuaH5yN4

7 E-mail correspondence between the author and her grandson, Luigi Capello (July-October 2023)
8. at this point it is worth emphasising that the family tree of the Biliński family, as outlined in Ewa Prządka's publication, has not been confirmed by the family.
9. e-mail correspondence dated 17.07.2023
. 10 See footnote 4
11. it should be noted that the membership composition of the Unione changed, only Ivanoff and Ismailovitch remained in their leadership positions from 1921 to 1923.
12 E. Aygün writes about Cybis and Prokopovich-Czartoryski in his article 'Konstantinopolis Rus Ressamlar Birliği'nin (1921-1923): Üyeleri Olan Leh Sanatçilarin İstanbul'daki Yaşamı" in: Toplumsal Tarih, 2023, pp. 68-75
13 Quoted in: Ekaterina Aygun, "METROMOD Archive ISTANBUL (Russian-speaking émigré artists)": https://archive.metromod.net/viewer.p/69/2949/types/all/geo/
14. https://archive.org/details/reportofpresiden00robe_0/page/n151/mode/2up
15. https://polonezkoy.com/en/house-of-the-memory-of-zofia-ryzy/
16. a collection of Persian ceramics is in the Ariana Museum in Geneva, a collection of Polish belts from the 17th and 18th centuries in the Polish Museum in Rapperswil.
17. "Dirò piuttosto che dovevamo incontrarci, porre assieme fine al turbinio caotico della sua vita precedente a me, dalla Grande Guerra alla Rivoluzione Russa, dall'assassinio del padre alla Seconda Guerra Mondiale con i campi di concentramento e piantare finalmente radici per poter sviluppare in relativa tranquillità il lavoro e scegliere ad un certo punto la pittura come sua espressione principale". M. Conte, Pensieri e riccordi [in:] M. Carta, A. Jacob (a cura di), Roman Bilinski, Torino 1985, p. 13
18. a list of Roman Bilinski's exhibitions is published in Ewa Prządka's text in Testimonianze vol. VII, pp. 372-373.
19. https://www.saloneumorismo.com/it/1966-19-salone-internazionale-dell-umorismo
20. Roman Bilinski, note for an exhibition at the Gussoni Gallery, La Notte, Milano 21 Nov., 1959: "...collegante nei suoi dipinti le varie confluenze dello espressionismo nordico: il colore fauve, la realtà, il postimpressionismo, la concertazione sonora della gamma cromatica".
21. Emilio Zanzi, Notiziario d'Arte, Roma 1953 quoted by M. Farotto, p. 16: "...curioso di tutti i climi europei, artistici e sociali, esperto di dolore e di gioie, a volte pateticamente georgico, a volte mondano, salottiere e piacevole, non di rado fieramente barbaro e violento."
. 22 Corriere d'Italia, 13-14 marzo 1962: "Bilinski. Presenta fiori, peasaggi, nature morte, figure, dipinte con mano esperta, colore spesso brillante e succoso, modi espressivi in cui si avverte una piuttosto eclettica confluenza di gusti e esperienze dall'impressionismo al fauvisme. Raggiunge sovente immediatezza e freschezza di sensasione".
23. "Visitare l'abitazione del noto pittore polacco Bilinski, che da alcuni mesi è ospite di Bordighera, in quell piccola villetta sulla via Beodo, è cosa davvero avvincente. Lassù non si ammirano soltanto quadri di pregio, autoritratti, abbozzi, ma una collezione di piante grasse, tenute con cura di vero competente, quale Bilinski ha dimostrato di essere. Gentile ed espansivo, egli ci ha condotto nel suo vivaio e qui abbiamo ammirato tutte le piante grasse più rare. Nel salotto fra le tante opere troneggia un primo piano di simili piante che ci ha colpito, sia per i contrasti di colore, sia per la perfetta esecuzione e sia per quella intensità di armonia che l'artista sa fare a tutte le sue pitture. Bilinski intende rimanere fra noi, dove, ci ha detto, ha trovato amici, e ci porge un bicchierino di wodka, accompagnandolo col suo immancabile sorriso".