watercolor, paper, 27 x 18.5 cm
The work was based on a watercolor by Nikifor Krynicki, a Polish artist of Lemko origin, whom Edward Dwurnik considered his greatest master. Although the "Matejko of Krynica" was self-taught, while his work is sometimes categorized as art brut (art of the marginalized, the rejected), it exerted a strong influence on artists trained at the Academies of Fine Arts. Dwurnik took over from Nikifor's simple, primitivist forms, anti-aesthetics and grotesqueness; it was through him that Edward defined his style and artistic technique. This is because he considered Nikifor to be a finite, true artist; one who is capable of truly SEEING reality. Dwurnik rejected the formalism of the Academy and the twinning of art among both teaching staff and students. Meeting Nikifor Krynicki in the 1960s defined his artistic path once and for all.
