Richard LEDWOS, Road to Garbno

Mixed technique, canvas, 100 x 80 cm, signed p.d.: R. Ledwos, inscribed on the back on the painter's loom: RYSZARD LEDWOS / KRAKÓW N. HUTA O¶. SPORTOWE 29/6 / ROAD TO GARBNA / 80 x 100 CM and on canvas: RYSZARD LEDWOS / ROAD TO GARBNA / 80 x 100 CM.

Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. He defended his diploma in 1950. Since the 1950s, he was associated with the artistic community of Nowa Huta, since the 1970s, for more than 30 years he cooperated with the Nowa Huta "Rhythm" Gallery. The painting of Ryszard Ledwos is extremely diverse. He created in oil technique, but through the use of different painting sub-images (e.g., panel) he achieved different textures, which produced a variety of artistic effects. The artist created both abstract works and works based on figuration. The subject matter of his works is mostly related to his place of residence, Nowa Huta. Here he created landscapes, urban views, scenes depicting workers at work, painted in a style with strong echoes of Socialist Realism. Ryszard Ledwos painted these types of paintings with strong but regular brushstrokes, strongly emphasizing dark contours and light distribution, the latter with distinctly bleached colors. The artist also created abstract paintings, in which the influence of Cubism is evident. The forms used by the painter are strongly geometrized, harmonious in color. The aesthetics of cubism, combined with the influence of post-impressionist art, are also repeated in the artist's rarely painted portraits. A completely different atmosphere characterizes his still lifes, which feature subtly finished objects with delicately blurred borders. The artist was a member of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, in addition, he exhibited his works at numerous group exhibitions, including the International Triennial of Drawing (1968) and the Festival of Polish Contemporary Painting (1962, 1964, 1966, 1972), the Nowa Huta Salon of Art (1999) and the exhibition Pokolenia-Artists of Nowa Huta (2004). The works of Ryszard Ledwos can be found, among others, in the collections of the National Museum in Cracow, the Cyprian Kamil Norwid Cultural Center in Cracow and in many private collections.