Antoni Fałat (b. 1942), Untitled (Master and Margaret), 1989

Acrylic, canvas, 120 x 100 cm, signed p.d.: 'Fałat Ant. 6 II 89'



Painter, representative of the new figuration in Polish art. He completed his artistic studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1969 with a diploma in the studio of Aleksander Kobzdej. He was a co-founder of the AUT art group (founded 1970) and actively participated in the activities of the "For Improvement" movement. The guiding motto of the grouping expressed in the phrase: "Polish figuration, Polish style, Polish exoticism" reflects well the nature of the artist's works. In his work, Fałat uses iconographic material taken from old photographs. The silhouettes of the figures enclosed in the frame are templates, which he then transfers to the canvases of his paintings, subjecting them to appropriate stylization and de-realisation. A strongly limited color palette, narrowed down to black, white and gray, broken in places by more vivid color accents, enhances the unusual atmosphere enclosed in the painting.