Pozostanę przy imieniu i nazwisku Jakub Mącznik bo taką widziałem sygnaturę na jego pracy (Autoportret chyba nie jest sygnowany). Jest wiele wersji jego nazwiska oraz imienia. Stosunkowo dużo można o nim odszukać informacji na internecie, mało w Słowniku Artystów Polskich, choć w tym ostatnim jest wymieniony ten Autoprtret. Wpis obecny jest rodzajem mojego przypomnienia i mojej pamięci o artystach, Żydach i Polakach, zamordowanych przez Niemców, włączywszy Jakuba Mącznika, choć obecnie uważa się, że byli to Naziści. Warto pamiętać, że nie naziści mordowali lecz Niemcy i oni zamordowali Mącznika jak też miliony osób innych narodowości w czasie II wojny światowej. Wracając do aukcji, dodam, ze ani jedna z prac tego artysty nie była jeszcze licytowana w III RP.
Lot 3. Jacob Macznik (Polish, 1905-1945). Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 45 x 37cm (17 11/16 x 14 9/16in). Painted c. 1930. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist’s studio. Literature: Jewish Artists of the school of Paris 1905-1939, Somogy Éditions d’Art, Paris, 2015, p. 221. Pascale Samuel, catalogue de l’exposition Chagall, Modigliani, Soutine… Paris pour école, 1905-1940, Paris, Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, 2020, p. 178. This work will be exhibited in the following exhibition: “Paris pour Ecole 1905- 1940” MAHJ Paris, April 2020 – August 2020. Estimate £ 2,500 – 3,000. Bonhams. 03/03/21.
Sold for £ 35,250 (US$ 49,053) inc. premium
Jacob Macznik grew up in an orthodox family and left for Warsaw in 1922 to study at the School of Fine Arts. In 1928, he got married and settled in Paris with his wife Stella. In 1930, he met Hersch Fenster with whom became collaborators on the publication of a book dedicated to the synagogues of Poland. On a mission, they started their resistance art journey to Tarnow, Kourov and Barnevto where they organised lectures in the cities they visited. Bearing financial struggles, Macznik had to return to Paris with only a dozen paintings. In 1944 during World War II, Macznik and his wife were killed at the Mauthausen concentration camp. The majority of his paintings were destroyed.
Polish Art Corner 
At this page is written, “The majority of his paintings were destroyed.” There is no documentation of that as fact, and it may not be true. How many paintings he created, and how many were destroyed, are both unknown. About 90–100 are known still to exist, if one considers oil paintings, watercolors/gouaches, pencil drawings, and charcoal drawings.
Also, several of the reported “facts” in the summary above, in Polish, are simply incorrect. For instance, his murder at the hands of the Reich occurred in 1945 (May), not 1944. For accurate information about him, see: https://www.macznik.org . For historical reasons, his paintings are sought for conservation. If any reader knows the whereabouts of any Macznik paintings, please contact the webmaster of that web site at: admin@macznik.org .