Karol Mondral (1880–1957) was a Polish painter and graphic artist. Biography Youth Karol Mondral was born on Januray 25, 1880, in Warsaw, to Jan Mondral and Maria née Paczuska. His father ran a small painting and decoration workshop in the district of Powiśle. Between 1894 and 1900, he studied at the Warsaw Drawing School (now the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw) with professors such as Wojciech Gerson, Jan Kauzik or Adam Badowski. In 1902 Karol went to Kraków to continue his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, in the class of Leon Wyczółkowski. It was under Wyczółkowski's influence that Mondral turned his interest to Japanese woodcuts. Unfortunately, the death his father forced him to return to Warsaw, so as to take care of his mother and younger siblings. He took over the workshop, making portraits, designing posters, playbills, book covers, models for nearby Hempel factory, but was still dreaming of graphic design. In 1905 Mondral, an excellent violinist, met Romana Pogorzelska at concerts she used to organized, while working at a piano factory. They married on August 27, 1907. Life in Paris Stefan Stasiak, a friend of the young couple, went to Paris to pursue oriental studies: he invited Romana and Karol to visit him. French composer Louis Fleury (1878–1926) and his rich wife offered the painter a loan of 50 rubles for the trip the couple made in 1909. In the French capital, Modral perfected his technique of etching. Romana and Karol settled in Montparnasse, at "La Ruche". He made also many trips around France and Switzerland, while looking for subjects for his works. A wealthy American businessman would come to Paris once a year, buying everything Mondral managed to create. Thanks to him, the artist could rent a second studio and open his own etching press. Initially, the artist showed in his engravings picturesque corners of the French province ("Saint-Jean-de-Luz"-1912, "The Fish Merchant"-1912, "The guy from Concarneau-1915), working the landscape in Whistler's way. He meticulously recreated the varied texture of stone facades in small-town streets, rendering the blurred architectural details of Paris fragmented buildings ("Cluny Abbey"-1912) or the decorative lattice of tree branches, like in Japanese woodcuts ("By the Seine"-1910). This period was one of intense creativity, which allowed him to participate in salon exhibitions. Furthermore, his friend Konstanty Brandel was the owner of several Japanese prints which were a constant source of inspiration for Mondral.