Jozef GIELNIAK (1932 - 1972), Bukowiec I

Zincotype (made in the 1970s on the basis of the original linocut), paper 18 x 24 cm in light passe - partout ; size p.p: 30 x 36 cm
Jozef Gielniak - in 1945-46 studied at the Ècole des Beaux-Arts in Valenciennes. He came to Poland in 1950 with the intention of preparing for work in diplomacy. A sudden attack of tuberculosis thwarted these plans, as did the realization of his next idea - to study at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun.Gielniak spent almost all of his creative life in the tuberculosis sanatorium Bukowiec near Kowary, where he also took a job as an archivist. Since 1956, he studied on an individual basis with a well-known graphic artist, Professor Stanislaw Dawski of the PWSSP in Wroclaw. He created almost exclusively linocuts, sometimes, when his health allowed, he also made mezzotints; he left behind only 68 works, including 15 ex-librises. Despite such a negligible volume of work, he is considered one of the most outstanding contemporary Polish printmakers.