KRAUPE-SWIDERSKA JANINA, Signs, 1958

watercolor, paper, 31 x 22 cm, framed 53 x 43 cm, signed p.d. 'Kraupe', inscribed on the reverse [in pencil] 'Signs | 1958'.

JANINA KRAUPE-ŚWIDERSKA Born in 1921 in Sosnowiec, died in 2016 in Krakow. She was one of the most interesting and original Polish artists of the second half of the 20th century. Biographically and artistically, she shared a variety of experiences with her generation: both the experience of World War II and participation in shaping the Polish face of modern art. She began studying painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow as a seventeen-year-old, in 1938; at the same time, in 1945-48, she studied graphic design in the studios of Andrzej Jurkiewicz and Konrad Srzednicki. She graduated in 1948 and received her diploma in easel painting seven years later. From 1948 until her retirement, she worked at her alma mater. From her earliest years, however, the artist was fascinated by both art and in-depth philosophical studies. Janina Kraupe-Swiderska represented Poland several times at international exhibitions: Saõ Paulo Art Biennale (1965), Venice Art Biennale (1952, 1978), EXPO in Seville (1992). The artist's works are in numerous museums and private collections, including the National Museums in Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, Szczecin and museums in Bochum, Dortmund, Dresden, Florence, Geneva, Kassel, Kiel, New York, Oxford, Saõ Paulo and Vienna.