Kazimierz MIKULSKI (1918-1998), Hot Afternoon, 1972

oil, canvas; 92 x 73 cm;
Signed, dated and described on the reverse: Upalne popołudnie / KMikulski / Krakow 1972.
Image reproduced in a photograph by Jan Styczynski in: Creator and Work in Photography by Jan Styczyński, Warsaw 1976, p. nlb.
This is how Jerzy Tchórzewski wrote about his and Kazimierz Mikulski's, known as Balzak, art: "We both came from a very branched family tree, planted by André Breton. It was a surrealistic tree, so it's no wonder that it bore very different and peculiar fruits, the naming and classification of which art botanists have a lot of trouble with and therefore make mistakes. And also these fruits themselves "wonder at each other" ba, even often do not admit affinity or deny their roots. In those days, both Balzac and I were convinced that we came from this very trunk, although we were not alike."
Kazimierz Mikulski is an uncommon figure in the world of visual arts. To create his own universe, the artist used not only painting or drawing. In accordance with the spirit of the era of post-war, avant-garde art, standing in firm opposition to the socialist realist doctrine, he was also a writer, stage designer, and even a director and actor, for example, in the Cricot 2 Theater. Such creative diversity gave moderate freedom of ideas and creation, provided that it was created out of pure artistic need and for a narrow audience - most often his brushmates. At the same time, it satisfied the needs of life, allowing one to work in such roles as illustrator, set designer, theater costume designer, especially for those artists who disagreed with the art guidelines of the l. 1950s.
According to colleagues' accounts, just crossing the threshold of Kazimierz Mikulski's studio was like entering another world, which Jerzy Tchórzewski called a "surrealist chocolate box." It was characterized by darkened windows, music and, above all, numerous props found on the painter's canvases. These included bells and balls on colorful threads, theatrical props, butterflies, wooden birds and countless books. Probably this is also the reason for his nickname Balzac, taken from the name of the novelist Honoré de Balzac, and from a sculpture, depicting a French literary man, by Auguste Rodin - a forerunner of modern sculpture.
(Quoted after: Jerzy Tchórzewski, Eye Testimony. Memories from 1946-1957, Krakow 2006, pp. 88-89)