Dimensions: 77 x 54.5 cm
Signed and dated on the reverse: 'Zb 1958'
Literature
Zbylut Grzywacz 1939 - 2004, catalog, ed. Joanna Boniecka, Jacek Waltoś, Krakow 2008, cat. no. 5, p. 336 (complete catalog of paintings), (il.)
Biography
Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in 1963, in the studio of E. Krcha. From 1972 he worked at the Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1991 became its professor. As a painter, draughtsman, sculptor, graphic artist, writer, photographer, essayist and educator, he was active in many artistic fields. He was also a lover and expert in paleontology, collecting stones and popularizing science and art. Together with his wife Maria, he created and ran the ESTE Gallery of Curiosities and the ESTE School of Drawing and Painting in Cracow. In 1966, he founded together with M. Bieniasz, J. Waltos and L. Sobocki of the "Wprost" group. His early work was influenced by F. Bacon with his characteristic deformations and exaggerations. Later he used more realistic means of expression. During the communist era, he was interned as a democratic oppositionist during martial law. In the early 1980s, he created the series "Wisnica Retreat" and "Spring 1982," in which he referred to martial law, depicting still lifes with pieces of bread and chains. Later, he returned to the theme of the female nude, painting bodies stigmatized with scars and scarring. Since 1989, he painted nudes, but already in the convention of affirmation of life and beauty.
He had about 70 solo exhibitions, more than 20 held as part of the Wprost group (1966-1986 and 2016) and about 200 national and international group exhibitions. The artist's works can be found in the collections of most Polish museums, as well as Polish and foreign private collections. In 2009, a posthumous retrospective of the artist was held at the National Museum in Krakow. The exhibition was accompanied by an extensive catalog entitled "Zbylut Grzywacz 1939-2004, edited by J. Boniecka and J. Waltos, which is the result of five years of research devoted to the legacy and reception of the artist.
