Jacek Yerka, PETROS, 1977

90,0 x 80,0cm - oil, acrylic, canvas signed p.d.: JRK

signature on reverse: JACEK YERKA | >> PETROS << | OIL/ACRYLIC | 1977



The painting is reproduced and described:

- Jacek Yerka. Paintings from 1972-2001, Agra-Art, Warsaw 2021, p. 19, color ill.



It started normally, with an impression from the window of a speeding train. But shortly afterwards a very pleasant dream about some cozy old monastery with a beautifully maintained cloister, to which I was climbing uphill with difficulty, arrived.

One of the first completely acrylic paintings; a struggle with matter, color, instantly drying and poorly covering paint, stains on clothing that could not be washed off with anything.

But there was no going back to oil paints.

Jacek Yerka

Jacek Yerka (Torun 1952, lives near Torun) graduated in 1976 from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. He specialized in graphic arts. In the first years after graduation, he exhibited posters, including at the Biennale of Polish Poster in Katowice in 1977 and 1979, international biennials in Lahti and Warsaw, and others. Since 1980 he has devoted himself entirely to painting. Drawing on a precise pictorial technique modeled on the old masters (Jan van Eyck, Hieronymus Bosch), but above all on his own boundless imagination, he creates surreal compositions, especially admired by lovers of fantasy in all varieties. He inspired, for example, fantasy author Harlan Ellison to write 30 short stories, which, along with Yerka's paintings, made up the publication titled. "Mind Fields." The same American publishing house "Morpheus International" published the album "The Fantastic Art of Jacek Yerka". In 1995 the artist was awarded the prestigious World Fantasy Award for best artist. He exhibits at home and abroad (in Germany, France, the USA and others), being a respected representative of the fantastic art trend. He collaborated in the production of the American film "Strawberry Fields," where the images were to be accompanied by Beatles music.