Michael Lester Leszczynski
Sea Captain, Painter
Brief synopsis of a biography by Kenneth Jones
INTRODUCTION
I have written and prepared this illustrated biography because of a deep
personal conviction of the genius of Michael Lester and the belief that
his place is among the greatest of modern painters. I am in no sense an
expert but my view is shared by a number of collectors and institutions
and by thousands of people who own work by this prolific artist. As his
neighbour for many years, I shared the beauty of his mountainside home
overlooking Montego Bay, Jamaica, and was priviledged to watch the creation
of the masterful works which he produced during this period. Michael was
born in Poland, Michal Antoni Leszczynski, in 1906 and died in Jamaica
in 1972. A considerable collection of his writings, sketches, photos and
memorabilia are in the archives of the Maritime Museum at Gdansk, Poland.
Important collections of maritime sketches and watercolours are on permanent
display at the Marine Society headquarters in London and at the Dartford
Public Library. His work hangs in the art gallery of the Institute of
Jamaica. Numerous works are in private hands in Jamaica and the largest
known collection is at the world-renowned Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay.
His early work in Poland was largely lost in the awful destruction of
Warsaw and other cities during World War II. Perhaps some was stolen or
comandeered and still exists. There is little trace at this time of the
work which he sold or otherwise disposed of during his years in England.
The work of his Jamaican period was mostly sold to U.S. collectors.
This illustrated biography features reproductions of a representative
selection of his paintings located in many parts of the world. The biography
is divided into four main sections dealing with Michael Lester's life
in Poland, England, Kingston and finally Montego Bay, Jamaica.
POLAND
Of aristocratic stock, his childhood was spent on his grandfather's estate
and with his itinerant family in the turbulent eastern Poland of the beginning
of the century where his father was a government official. He was taught
to draw and paint by his mother, herself an accomplished artist. He attended
the Polish Nautical School in Gdynia from which he graduated not only
with a master's certificate, but with an abiding love of the sea after
voyages under sail during training. When he went to sea as a merchant
officer, his sketch pad and easel were contstant companions and with them
he was able to express his delight in the seafaring environment and sketched
everything from the vastness of the sea and sky to the tiniest details
of ship construction. He was the youngest pilot at the new port of Gdynia
on the Baltic in the thirties but was fired because of this eccentricities
and because his art often interfered with his duties. He went to study
at the Cracow Academy of Art before going to sea again. In 1937 circumstances
found him "on the beach" in London where he turned to his art
and began to make a name for himself among London Galleries. At the outbreak
of World War II he was again at sea, and was secretary of the Polish Merchant
Seamen's Union. He issued the call to all Polish ships to set course for
British ports and once more found himself in London, this time as a refugee.
ENGLAND
During the early years of the war he carried on his work of liason with
Poles in Britain and then became skipper and part owner of a sailing vessel
"The Garlandstone", in which he traded between Britain, Ireland
and other North Atlantic coasts. "Garlandstone" was one of the
last of a distinctive breed of West Country ketches and is now preserved
by a Welsh Museum. At the end of the war, he was commissioned by the Admiralty
and spent several years in salvage work around Britain's coasts. He had
permission to sketch and paint at any naval instalation and during this
period he produced a great deal of maritime art and was described as the
finest maritime artist in England. He exhibited at London galleries, had
a number of one-man shows, and had work accepted at the Royal Academy
show.
KINGSTON
He "discovered" Jamaica when he went to work for a steamship
company involved in the Bauxite trade between Jamaica's north coast and
the U.S.A. Still painting prolifically, he gave a one-man show at the
Mobile, Ala. Museum of Fine Arts. The vivid tropical light and colours
of Jamaica captivated him and, impulsively sending word to his English
wife Peggy to sell their mortgaged house and take the next ship sailing
for the West Indies, he set up a studio in Kingston and embarked on the
precarious road to financial self sufficiency through his art.
MONTEGO BAY
After suffering hard times in Kingston, the Lesters moved to Montego Bay,
the holiday paradise discovered and made famous by Noel Coward and other
discerning celebrities. The Lester Art Gallery was opened in a humble
wooden house on Market Street and the Lesters became celebrities themselves
among the townspeople and among the wealthy and famous people who made
up the "winter set". With Peggy presiding in the Gallery with
her impeccable English voice and manner, and Michael painting as he had
never done before, they began to put the times of financial struggle behind
them. With money in the bank Michael selected a site on a remote mountainside
at Belmont overlooking the bay and set about building his studio and residence
in a landscaped setting of great beauty. He felt that he did his best
work at Belmont and described his years there as "my private renaissance".
[ Home ] | [ His Works ] | [ The Anchorage ] | [ The Biography ] | [ Contact Us ]