Henryk Stazewski

Polish artist Henryk Stazewski was born in Warsaw in 1894 and lived to be 94 years old. He was one of the pioneers of the classical avant-garde in the 1920s and 30s, and later co-founded Constructivism in the 1960s.

During the classical avant-garde, Stazewski was in his 30s and traveled regularly to Paris. Through artist circles, he became good friends with, among others Piet Mondrian, whom came to influence him a great deal. During this time, he increasingly represented Poland abroad at various exhibitions. Unfortunately, almost all of Stazewski's earlier artworks were destroyed during World War II.

Stazewski's first exhibition after the end of the war was held in 1955, and in 1965 he started the Foksal Gallery in Warsaw with two colleagues. In the mid-1950s, Stazewski took on a new medium - the relief. It came to characterize his body of work for the next 20 years.

During the constructivist years of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, his art was exhibited internationally. In addition to art, Stazewski also worked as a writer and lecturer, and initiated several different exchange projects between European countries and the United States.

The artwork up for auction is a white relief from 1964, a typical creation of Stazewski's from the 1960s. The works from the first half of the decade show the artist's great fascination with the color white and were a manifesto for his reflections on the neutral form and its dependence on being part of a composition.