Zbigniew Makowski, AND THE WAVES FLOWED ABOVE HIM..., 1981

29.5 x 24.0cm - collage, pen ink, brush, gouache, paper

AND THE WAVES FLOWED ABOVE HIM, AND HE DIED (W. B. YEATS), 1981

29.5 x 24 cm (in light of passe-partout)

signed in pencil at bottom: And the waves flowed above him, and he died. W. B. Yeats. Z. M. 1981.



Provenance:

- Collection of art historian Teresa Sowinska, author of many publications and exhibitions, professionally affiliated with "Zachêta" in Warsaw.



The title quote is taken from William Butler Yeats' poem Death of Cuchulain. It refers to the fate of the mythical Irish hero Cuchulain, who died on the seashore, drowned by the waves - he was thus punished for the accidental death he inflicted on his son. W. B. Yeats was one of the protagonists of the literary Irish Revival in the 1880s and 1890s, taking up themes from Celtic literature and Irish folk tradition.



♣ A fee will be added to the auctioned price, in addition to other costs, based on the right of the author and his heirs to receive remuneration in accordance with the Law of February 4, 1994 - on Copyright and Related Rights (droit de suite).

Zbigniew Makowski (Warsaw, 31 I 1930 - Warsaw, 19 VIII 2019) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw from 1950 to 1956, receiving his diploma in the studio of Kazimierz Tomorowicz. Initially he leaned towards Surrealism - during his stay in Paris in 1962 he came into contact with André Breton and the international Phases movement. However, the decisive influence on the expression of his art came from the non-painterly interests he pursued. He is literate, poetic, erudite, especially an expert in the broad spectrum of philosophy and secret knowledge of many cultures. He uses this expertise in his paintings, drawings, as well as in unique books, which he makes with his own hands on specially prepared papers. In his works he layers symbols, quotations and meanings into a seemingly unreadable chaos. However, one should believe critics who claim that Makowski's works open up a world of peculiar narrative to the patient and intellectually prepared "reader." In turn, the artist himself draws attention to the "permutation" structure of his works, in which various quotations and cultural references are intertwined with his private iconography. Be that as it may, it is certainly possible to distinguish a certain visual-symbolic "alphabet" in Makowski's works, the elements of which constantly appear in them in various configurations. These include, for example, such images as a key, ladder, well, mandala, chalice, etc. They are surrounded by inscriptions, often in Latin, as well as single numbers, letters and ornaments. Someone described them as rebuses of great beauty, which can be read, and can also be contemplated. Since 1982, the artist stopped exhibiting, but not creating. At that time, works were created that were a kind of modern notebook, started back in the 1960s, to which the artist returns with new thoughts. The artist is the recipient of many awards, including the Norwid Art Criticism Award (1973) and the Jan Cybis Award (1992). His large composition "Mirabilitas secundum diversos modos exire potest a rebus" (1973-1980) adorns the Geneva headquarters of the United Nations as a gift from the Polish government.