Léopold Zborowski

Who was Léopold Zborowski?

Léopold Zborowski was a Polish poet, writer and art dealer. He was born in Warsaw into a Jewish family.

Zborowski and his wife Anna were contemporaries with Parisian artists such as Chaim Soutine, André Derain and Amedeo Modigliani, who painted Zborowski's portrait.

Léopold Zborowski was Amedeo Modigliani's primary art dealer and friend during the artist's final years, organizing his expositions and letting the Leghorn artist use his house as an atelier. He also was the first art dealer of René Iché, Chaim Soutine, Maurice Utrillo, Marc Chagall and André Derain. There are three portraits of him by Modigliani, such as a 17³⁄₄" by 10³⁄₄" artwork sold for $1,464,000 at Sotheby's in 2003. As Modigliani's art dealer, Zborowski accumulated a small fortune, which he lost during the economic crisis of 1929, ultimately dying poor in Paris in 1932.