linocut / paper
47 x 37 cm (with frame)
Stanislaw Fijalkowski (b. 1922) - painter, printmaker and educator associated with the art community in Lodz. From 1946 to 1951, he studied at the State Higher School of Visual Arts in Lodz under the direction of, among others, Władysław Strzemiński. After graduating until 1993, he taught at his alma mater, becoming a professor in 1983. In 1990 he was awarded the prestigious Jan Cybis Prize, and in 2005 he was awarded the Gold Medal for "Meritorious Service to Culture Gloria Artis."
Fijałkowski's painting went through various stages of development, and the artist himself drew inspiration from many (sometimes distant) sources, such as impressionism and informel. In the 1960s, however, he developed his own extremely consistent formula and an individual language of artistic expression, which remains his trademark to this day. In his work, the artist uses synthetic, condensed forms, which, however, are characterized by a wealth of symbolic meanings, reaching back to deeply rooted, cross-cultural archetypes. In his painting, Fijałkowski explores philosophical and religious issues, sometimes bordering on esotericism. Among his "masters" he points to the precursors of the metaphysical avant-garde: Malevich, Klee or, finally, Kandinsky, whose writings he translated into Polish(Point and Line vs. Plane, On Spirituality in Art, Non-Objective World).
