watercolor, paper, 20 x 24,8 cm
Watercolor, paper 20 x 24,8 cm ; author's inscription under and above composition; size in frame: 33 x 38 cm
Nikifor Krynicki ( Epifaniusz Drowniak ) - is a self-taught artist, is counted among the world's most outstanding naive painters - primitivists. He was born on May 21, 1895 in Krynica. His father was a Pole, presumed to be one of the painters, many of whom lived at the time in the "Three Roses" villa, the largest boarding house in Krynica at the time (one of the most widespread rumors attributed paternity to Aleksandr Gierymski), while his mother was Yevdokia Drowniak, daughter of Hryhor and Tatiana (née Krynicka) from the village of Powroznik. Yevdokia was a beggar who did the meanest jobs in Krynica's boarding houses. With her illegitimate child, she lived in complete isolation.
No one can clearly determine where he got his name, which originally in the Lemko language was Netyfor. Until 1963 he did not have a surname - he used only his first name. It was only then that he was issued an identity card and passport and officially given the name "Krynicki." The documents recorded a fictitious date of birth and false names of his parents. Only long after his passing - in 2003 a court in Muszyna decided that Nikifor's real name was: Epifaniusz (Epifan) Drowniak.
Around 1915, he began painting pictures, for which he used anything suitable - such as Austrian official prints, used school notebooks, chocolate and cigarette wrappers and wrapping paper. As part of the "Vistula" action, Nikifor ended up in the vicinity of Szczecin, as evidenced by his paintings from that period (sea, pier, or beach umbrellas). Nikifor's oldest surviving works date back to 1920, and the artist always considered himself a professional painter. This is evidenced by his adoption of the name of the great Polish painter as a sign of his profession, and he signed his works as "Netyfor the painter" or "Matejko." He was semi-illiterate, which is why his paintings feature cursive inscriptions full of errors. Nikifor was particularly inspired by the Greek Catholic Orthodox Church. Many of his works depict a landscape with the silhouette of an Orthodox church in the background, the interior of temples or images of saints seen in a specific way - through the eyes of a primitive.
