Nikifor

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Nikifor

Nikifor (born May 21, 1895 in Krynica-Zdrój , † October 10, 1968 in Folusz; real name Epifaniusz Drowniak , also called Nikifor Krynicki ) was a Polish painter who belonged to the Lemken ethnic minority .

Live and act

Nikifor was a homeless painter of naive pictures . The son of a deaf-mute beggar and an unknown father was illiterate and self-taught as a painter . His mother belonged to the Lemken ethnic group in western Ukraine. He began painting around 1915, using watercolors on scrap paper and cigarette packs. His first models were cheap postcards and the icons in the Greek Catholic Church. He loved to paint cityscapes and self-portraits, often in uniform or in bishop's robe. Approx. His pictures were first noticed in 1930. The first exhibition was organized in Warsaw from January 31 to February 8, 1949 . Nikifor's works were only shown in western foreign countries nine years later: from May 22 to June 30, 1958 in the Paris gallery Dina Vierny, then in 1959 in Amsterdam , Brussels , Liège and in Haifa , in 1961 in the Federal Republic: in Baden- Baden , Frankfurt am Main and in Hanover . After that, his works achieved world fame. The pictures found huge sales, were sold in picture galleries, and forgeries even appeared.

Nikifor lived in the spa town of Krynica-Zdrój for most of his life. Every day he sat on the promenade from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. He sold his pictures to spa guests at dirt cheap. From around 1948, the art historian Andrzej Banach and the painter Marian Włosiński tried to help him, but Nikifor did not want to change his way of life.

The Polish film director Krzysztof Krauze made a feature film about the last years of his life under the title Mein Nikifor . Nikifor was portrayed deceptively realistically by the Polish actress Krystyna Feldman .

  • Nikifor at work

  • Nikifor

  • Nikifor

  • Nikifor

  • Nikifor memorial plaque

  • Nikifor monument

  • Nikifor Museum in Krynica

Web links

Commons : Nikifor  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Nikifor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nykyfor Krynyc'kyj; Ferenc, Nykyfor; Drovnjak, Nykyfor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish painter
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Krynica-Zdrój
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1968
Place of death Krynica-Zdrój