Aleksander Kobzdej (1920 Olesko - 1972 Warsaw), "Swallowed Light," 1960

Origin:
private collection, Poznan

Exhibited
"Aleksander Kobzdej. Struggles with Matter," Polish Auction House Art Gallery, Hôtel de Saxe, Warsaw, 26.10-22.12.2002
"Aleksander Kobzdej. Struggles with Matter", Larisch Palace, Cracow, 8.01-28.02.2003

Literature
Aleksander Kobzdej. Struggles with Matter, exhibition catalog, Cracow-Warsaw, 2002, p. 197 (ill.)

Biography
Studied painting under W. Lam, after the war studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow under E. Eibisch. Initially he practiced painting in the post-impressionist spirit, in the late 1940s he turned to realist painting. During the period of Socialist Realism, he became the No. 1 artist of officially decreed art by the communist authorities. He is the author of the masterpiece of Socialist Realism, "Pass the Brick." He broke with socialist realism in 1955. Since 1951 he was a teacher at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, with which he was associated until his death. He moved away from representational painting and began creating in the spirit of informel. He worked on the structure and texture of paintings - he created the series "Cracks", which began in 1966. An extension of this series became painting objects created since 1969, called "Hors cadre" (without frames), entering without any restrictions into relations with the surrounding space. He also created spatial objects, and painting and sculpture objects. He also worked in stage design, poster design and book illustration.