Andrzej Seweryn KOWALSKI (1930 - 2004), Composition

oil, paper, canvas, 60 x 72 cm,
signed l.d.: A.S. Kowalski

"'The range of colors used by the painter in his compositions is exceptionally beautiful. Tones of gray-black, olive, brown, red, ochre-gray, beautiful oranges, brown and green...'" - delighted Piotr Skrzynecki. ("Andrzej S. Kowalski," ed. Jan Trzupek, publishers: Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Society of Friends of the Art Roundabout, BWA Gallery of Contemporary Art in Katowice, Katowice 2013, p. 98)

Painter, graphic designer, writer and educator. Studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in the studio of Adam Marczyński, and graphic design in the studio of Ludwik Gardowski. He was a member of the Cracow Group, the Zagłębie Group and the ARKAT Group. In 1958 he became an employee and then a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice. Interned in January 1981, after his release in January 1982 he resigned from his position as dean. In the 1980s he became involved in independent culture. His works include graphic designs for publishing houses, mosaics, church polychromes and designs of plastic solutions for industrial plants. His abstract painting from 1958-1964 is characterized by balance and harmony, identified with a rational attitude, paintings from this period are compared to the work of Serge Poliakoff and considered a great artistic success. In the 1970s, the artist ceased his exhibition activities, continued to create abstract compositions, and painted numerous expressive scenes. His works are in the collections of the BWA in Katowice, the Silesian Museum in Katowice, the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom and in private collections, among others.