Etching, aquatint, dimensions: 50 x 60 cm
Author's edition: epreuve d'artiste
Hand signature.
Włodzimierz Kotkowski was born in 1942 in Łódź, and died in 2011 in Cracow. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. He earned his diploma in 1967 in the copperplate studio of Prof. Mieczyslaw Wejman. He was vice-dean (1984-1987) and later also dean (1987-1990) of the Graphic Arts Department at his alma mater. Until the end of his life, he worked as a teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. He was the recipient of numerous awards: Medal of Honor at the 5th International Biennial of Contemporary Exlibris in Malbork (1971), Medal of Honor at the International Biennial of Small Graphic Forms in Lodz (1979), Special Prize in the International Graphic Competition "Premio Biella" in Biella, Italy (1993) and Regulation Prize at the Triennial of Polish Graphics in Katowice (1994) In 1995, Regulation Prize at the International Triennial "Mezzotint 95" in Gdansk. Participant in about 150 exhibitions. He participated in individual and group exhibitions in Poland and abroad: in Italy, Spain, Austria, USA, Japan, Mexico. Most often he expressed himself in graphic technique: he created mezzotints and aquatints of various themes: seascapes, clustered groups of people (which can hardly be called "genre scenes"), abstract and symbolic compositions. The artist's oeuvre also includes a few easel paintings. His works are in the Museum in Portland USA, the National Museum in Cracow, the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Library in Warsaw, the Jagiellonian Library in Cracow, the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz, the Castle Museum in Malbork, the Stedelijke Museum in Amsterdam, the Vanni Scheiviller Collection and the Library of Congress of the United States of America.
