Jerzy Duda-Gracz (1941 - 2004)
Untitled (Portrait of a Lady with Handbag), 1989

Oil on wood. 72 x 55 cm. Signed and dated lower left: DUDA GRACZ 1305/89 (oil). Provenance:
Private collection, Rhineland.

The Polish painter and graphic artist Jerzy Duda-Gracz is one of the most distinctive figures in late 20th-century Polish art. Born in Częstochowa in 1941, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and developed a unique visual language early on. Duda-Gracz is best known for his grotesquely exaggerated, often satirical depictions of Polish society. His figures appear distorted, caricatured, and yet profoundly human; they move through melancholic, often symbolically charged landscapes. With subtle, sometimes bitter humor, the artist combines socially critical observation with a deep empathy for the everyday and the inconspicuous. His works have been shown in numerous museums and exhibitions in Poland and internationally, and are now part of important public and private collections. Duda-Gracz's oeuvre is considered an impressive combination of realism, the grotesque, and poetic allegory, and occupies a special place within European figurative painting of the second half of the 20th century.

Reserve price: 16,000 €