Kali (painter) facts for kids

Kali (born Hanna Gordziałkowska, later known as Hanna Weynerowska; December 18, 1918 – June 20, 1998) was a talented Polish-American painter. She was famous for her unique, stylized portraits. Many people consider her one of the most important Polish female painters. During World War II, she was a brave member of the Polish Resistance. She fought against Nazi Germany when they took over Poland. During this time, she used the secret code name Kali. After the war, she moved to America and got married. She used different versions of her name, but she always signed her paintings simply as Kali.

Kali's Art Style

Kali's paintings often show people in a way that reminds you of very old, classic artworks. However, she painted them in a simpler, flatter, and more graphic style. Her art uses bright colors. She often showed people sitting, from the chest up. Their faces were long, and their bodies looked flat. There was often a patterned part, like on their clothes. The hands of the people in her paintings were often in a classic pose. Her art style is a mix of Neo-mannerist (a style that changes classic art) and Surrealist (a style that uses dream-like images).

Kali's Life Story

Hanna Gordziałkowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, on December 18, 1918. She started studying art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. But her studies were stopped when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939.

Fighting in World War II

Hanna joined the Home Army (Armia Krajowa), which was the Polish resistance movement. She used the code name Kali and was part of a women's team that carried out secret missions. In 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, she was hurt. She was then captured and became a prisoner of war in Germany. Later, her prison camp was freed by the Soviet Army. After the war, she managed to escape from Poland, which was then under communist rule. The U.S. military helped her get to West Germany.

Life After the War

By 1945, Kali was living in Brussels, Belgium. She continued her art education at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. In Brussels, she married Henryk "Henry" Weynerowski. He was also a Polish refugee and had fought in the resistance. For the next five years, she lived in different parts of Europe. She showed her art in many countries, including France, Britain, Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland. Even though she used many different names after getting married, she always signed her paintings with her code name, Kali.

In 1953, Kali and her husband moved to San Francisco, California, in the United States. They lived there for the rest of their lives.

The Missing Paintings

Kali passed away on June 20, 1998, in San Francisco. In her will, she asked for her 86 paintings to be sent to the Polish Museum in Rapperswil, Switzerland. For sixteen years, these paintings were missing. Then, in early 2014, FBI agents found her nephew in Santa Rosa, California. Her nephew explained that 75 of the missing paintings were in a storage place. They were then returned to the museum, as Kali had wished.

Art Shows

Kali's art was shown in many places around the world:

• 1950: Galerie des Garets, Paris, France
• 1950: London Gallery, London, England
• 1950: Palais de Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
• 1952: Weyhe Gallery, New York, New York, US
• 1953: São Paulo Art Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil
• 1955: California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California, US
• 1963: Gallery 63 Inc., New York, New York, US
• 2014: Polish Museum, Rapperswil, Switzerland