Jorge Lewinski

Who is Jorge Lewinski?

Jorge Lewinski was a Polish-British photographer and soldier.

Born in Lwow, Poland, in 1921, Lewinski survived Russian occupation, internment, and forced labour in Siberia. After conscription into the Polish army, he served with Allied forces in the Middle East. In 1942, he was sent to Britain to join the RAF, and afterwards settled.

In 1966, having developed a name for himself through the portraiture of artists, he became the pre-eminent photographer of artists in Britain. Subjects included Francis Bacon, LS Lowry, David Hockney, Henry Moore, Marcel Duchamp, Peter Blake, Pauline Boty, Gilbert and George, Barbara Hepworth, William Pye, Fred Pollock, Bill Redgrave, Peter Lanyon, Fe McWilliam, Alexander Katz, Marc Vaux, Albert Irvin, Maggi Hambling, Kenneth Martin, Sean Scully, Bridget Riley, Reg Butler, Anthony Gormley, Julian Trevelyan, Sheila Fell, Allen Jones, Richard Wilson, and more.

Lewinski was Senior Lecturer at the London College of Printing from 1968 to 1982, and he was admired as both a teacher and a writer on photography.

He was married to Mayotte Magnus, the photographer, and lived between England and France.