Iconic artist Edward Dwurnik dies
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
28.10.2018 20:40
Iconic and award-winning Polish painter Edward Dwurnik died in Warsaw on Sunday at the age of 75.
Edward Dwurnik. Photo: PAP/Dominik Kulaszewicz
He was a key figure in Polish contemporary art and a prolific artist who left behind a legacy of some 5,000 paintings and 10,000 drawings.
Born in 1943 in Radzymin near Warsaw, Dwurnik studied painting, graphic art and sculpture at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts from 1963 to 1970.
Dwurnik came to prominence in the 1960s after painting a series of urban landscapes. Seemingly bird's-eye views of some of the most iconic squares and streets in Poland and the world, they were, in fact, a mix of perspectives and included references to well-researched historical, political and social nuances.
For instance, a painting of the French capital featuring busy Parisian streets included Edith Piaf and President Charles de Gaulle.
Dwurnik's vast body of work also includes a series entitled Eastbound, commemorating the victims of Stalinism, and another, From December to June, dedicated to the victims of the communist-era martial law crackdown in Poland.
He was inspired by naive artist Nifikor, an ethnic Lemko from Poland's south, and Polish master Jan Matejko.
Dwurnik admitted that much of his work carried sexual undertones and that he drew inspiration from another artist, Nikifor, a naive painter of the Lemko ethnic group which hails from parts of Poland's southeast, Ukraine and Slovakia.
He was also inspired by Polish master and history painter Jan Matejko, as well as American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock who became famous for a unique drip painting styl
He is survived by family including daughter Pola Dwurnik, also a painter and visual artist.
(gs,vb)
Source: PAP/IAR, dwurnik.pl