Ignatius Czwartos, WITHOUT TITLE, 2010

180,0 x 100,0cm - oil, canvas signed on the reverse on canvas: IGNACY CZWARTOS | 2010 | YEAR | [up arrow sign].

The two paintings by Ignacy Czwartos, which we present at our auction, represent a unique opportunity to acquire the works of an artist who is very reluctant to part with his oeuvre.

The artist's paintings are rooted in tradition and refer to the art of the Polish Baroque, of which the Sarmatian portrait was a particular manifestation. About these connections with old painting, writes Krystyna Czerni: Czwartos' portraits allude to Old Polish tradition legibly, although not literally. Their frontality, staticness, dignity are similar. Much greater - simplicity. The rich żupan and armor have been replaced by a black jacquard or sweater: the shambling, noble ossuary has turned into an intriguing hair color ("Blue blond in an ace"); elaborate insignia and emblems - into flat signs, simple cabochons, empty, symbolic mandoras. Sometimes there are simplified, barely signaled attributes: a small skull, the sign of the cross. The erstwhile coat-of-arms plates from Sarmatian epitaphs - these are small abstractions, quotations of the artist's own work; once again, "pictures in pictures."

♣ to the auctioned price, in addition to other costs, will be added a fee resulting from the right of the creator and his heirs to receive remuneration in accordance with the Law of February 4, 1994 - on copyright and related rights (droit de suite)

Ignacy Czwartos (Kielce 1966, lives in Cracow) - painter, draughtsman, co-founder of the gallery and the Association OTWARTA PRACOWNIA (1995). He has served as president of the association since January 2006. Member of ZPAP. In addition to painting, he does press and book illustration. He lives and works in Cracow. He is a well-known illustrator, author of drawings from "Przekroj" or "Gazeta Wyborcza" magazine.

He graduated from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan - Department of Art Education in Kalisz. A student of Jerzy Nowosielski. He received his diploma in 1993 in the studio of "alternative methods of art didactics", which was led by Tadeusz Wolanski, a student of Władysław Strzeminski and assistant of Jerzy Nowosielski.

His works have been presented in many exhibitions, individual and collective, including in Krakow, Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan, Lublin, Kielce, Zielona Gora, as well as Geneva, Erfurt. In 2023 in a solo exhibition at the National Art Gallery "Zachęta" in Warsaw.