Walenty Gabrysiak
The work of Walenty Gabrysiak, after all these years they come out of the shadows, most of his life, he spent in his own world surrounded by his art. He was an peculiar artist, so up-to-date nowadays. At one side, his paintings didn’t lose any freshness, and on the other hand, they’re very original, they’re a representation of their times, perfect exemplification of art and the philosophy of that time. Gabrysiak in one of his last intervievs said: “Everything has roots in nature, I’m only interpreting it, and the form creates the content.” - Sławomir Rogowski, Ph.D.
Biography
Was born on 11 February 1920 in Gola in Wielkopolska. Painter and graphic artist, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków in 1949-1954 in the studios of Professor Fryderyk Pautsch, Professor Adam Marczyński and Professor Wacław Taranczewski. He completed his diploma in 1956 under the supervision of Professor Taranczewski, in his monumental painting studio. In 1965, Walenty received a scholarship awarded by the Belgian government in École Nationale Superieure d’Architecture et des Arts Décoratifs de la Cambre. From 1954 until 1960, he collaborated with Professor Taranczewski, working on wall painting projects, e.g. sgraffito on the city hall at Wolnica Sq. in Kraków. He designed and completed a mosaic in Karczów near Opole (in cooperation with Ewa Buczyńska). In 1956, in Warsaw, he presented his first monotyping works featuring sport and prepared for the Olympic Contest. In 1958, he co-organized Modern Art Gallery in Nowa Huta. In 1970s, he headed Artistic Council of the Painting Section of the ZPAP Regional Board in Kraków. He died on 13 November 2013.
Prizes and awards
The most important awards:
Graphic of the Month Contest - 1st prize - Kraków 1961; 2nd Graphic Art Biennale, Kraków 1962; 3rd Graphic Art Biennale, 2nd Prize, Kraków 1964; 1st degree prize of the National Exhibition „Human - Labor - Environment,” Warsaw 1971; painting award granted by the Cultural Society, Szczecin 1972; silver medal in the Kraków Team during International Saloon, Paris 1972; 2nd prize „Sport in Art,” Katowice 1976.
Collections
His works are part of the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Szczecin, Wrocław, Museum of Agriculture in Szreniawa and Museum of Art in Łódź, the National Librery in Warsaw, Podlaskie Musuem in Białystok, Regional Museum in Bydgoszcz, Górnośląskie Museum in Bytom, Museum in Chorzów, Mikołaj Kopernik Museum in Frombork, Lublin Museum in Lublin, Museum in Majdanek, Lubuskie Region Museum in Zielona Góra and Polish Army Musuem in Warsaw as well as private and museum collections abroad in Belgium (e.g. Bibliothèque Royale Albert I in Brussels), The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, USA and Italy.
ARCHIVE WORKS