Polish art-house film director Andrzej Zulawski died on Wednesday aged 75 after a long battle with cancer, according to the Polish Filmmakers Association.

"I can confirm his death," a source at the association told AFP of the actor, writer and director of several French films.

He was "a very original artist, sometimes controversial but always true to himself," association president Jacek Bromski told Polish broadcaster Polsat.

Zulawski's son Xawery, also a director, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that Zulawski was "terminally ill with cancer and undergoing intensive therapy in hospital" in Poland.

"It's really hard for me to write these words, but it's especially important now that his last film ("Cosmos", 2015) is starting its own life."

Born in occupied Poland in 1940, Zulawski left for Paris at the age of five with his parents and later studied at the Sorbonne.

He is survived by three children, including a son with French actress and ex-partner Sophie Marceau. They separated in 2001.

"It's a huge loss for Polish and world cinema," film critic Janusz Wroblewski told AFP.

"His films are considered cinema classics, but at the time they were avant-garde," he said of the director of "The Third Part of the Night" (1971) and "The Devil" (1972).

"He was provocative, breaking many Polish stereotypes and introducing eroticism in his films."