Jerzy Duda-Gracz (1941 Częstochowa - 2004 Łagów), Tatra Mountains, 1984

oil, canvas, 92 x 65.5 cm, signed l.d.: 'DUDA GRACZ 875/1984', on the back an author's label with a description of the painting

OPINIONS:
- certificate of authenticity issued by Agata Duda-Gracz

He is one of the most outstanding Polish contemporary painters. Recognized abroad, he has exhibited virtually all over the world, including Tokyo, Paris, Stockholm, London, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, Vienna, Florence, Bratislava, Sofia, Chicago, Delhi, Oldenburg, Munich, Leipzig and New York. Currently, a permanent exhibition of the painter's works can be admired at the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom. The artist's dizzying career, which dates back to the 1970s, did not prevent Duda Gracz from teaching at the Cracow branch of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice (in 1976-1982), and later at the Silesian University in Katowice and the European Academy of Arts in Warsaw. His work is characterized by excellent technique and great attention to detail. Many times in his paintings he has referred to the tradition of old Polish painting, mainly to masters such as Jozef Chelmonski and Jacek Malczewski. Nevertheless, Duda-Gracz's works have also been compared to the paintings of Peter Bruegel, due to the insightful satire and moralizing program found in the Polish painter's canvases. Duda-Gracz repeatedly incorporated themes from today's gray reality into his art, which left no illusions, especially for residents of small towns and sunken villages. He depicted the ugliness of the human body and human soul with all sincerity. He exposed all the vices of man, from stupidity, intolerance, rudeness, laziness, to the fascination with money and American culture. However, he did not shy away from beautiful views of nature.