Dimensions: 65 x 81 cm
Signed and dated lower right: 'S. Krygier 94'
On the flap of the stretcher, dated and labeled: ''"NEFRETETE" OIL 81x65 [installation instructions]' and numbered: 'PS02WŁ/v-DR/6240/362/94'
On the stretcher, a paper label from the Stichting Veranneman Foundation in Kruishoutem, Belgium, with a description of the work
Provenance
Fondation Veranneman, Kruishoutem, Belgium
private collection, Poland
Bibliography
Stefan Krygier 1923–1997, exhibition catalog, Museum of the History of the City of Łódź, ed. Krystyna Knapik, Łódź 1999, cat. no. I.288, p. 115
Biography
Painter and graphic artist. From 1945 to 1950, he studied at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Łódź. In 1963, he earned a degree in architecture from the Warsaw University of Technology. He was a co-founder of the ST-53 GROUP, established in Katowice in 1953. His paintings from the early 1950s were an attempt to transpose his inspiration from ancient Egyptian art into the language of modern art. He also created compositions based on geometric rhythms. Over time, he introduced organic shapes into his work (*CENTER OF FORM CONDENSATION*, 1970). In the 1970s, he explored the fields of Constructivism and Conceptualism. The artist was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit (1972) and the Second-Class Award of the Minister of Culture and Art (1973). He studied at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Łódź under W. Strzemiński and S. Wegner. In 1947, he co-authored an article with W. Strzemiński titled “The Vision of the Gothic.” In the 1940s, he was a member of the Young Artists and Scientists Club in Warsaw, through which he participated in exhibitions at the “Po prostu” Salon, “Zachęta,” and the Writers’ Club. During his studies, he organized a club under the patronage of the YMCA in Łódź, and in 1953 he collaborated with the “St-53” group in Katowice. From 1957 to 1997, he taught courses in composition, printmaking, and graphic design at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Łódź. In 1990, he was appointed professor. Starting in 1975, while continuing his work at the Academy, he established a sculpture and composition studio at the Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Łódź University of Technology. His paintings from his student years draw on Cubism and Strzemiński’s Solarism. His paintings from the 1950s were inspired by Egyptian and Greek art. The artist also created Tachist works. The 1960s saw him engage in material painting, wood sculpture, and printmaking. The late 1970s saw the creation of oil paintings, ascetic in content and referencing Constructivism. This creative period secured the artist a lasting place in the history of Polish art. The 1980s and 1990s were a period of simultaneous painting. Alongside purely geometric paintings, the artist created works referencing European iconography and culture, including “Judith with the Head of Holofernes,” “The Abduction of Europa,” and “In Front of the Cathedral.”
