Ryszard (Richard) Kiwerski

Ryszard Kiwerski's artistic career began in his homeland, Poland. After studying art history, he first produced engravings and cinema posters. But the 50s were not a favourable time for artists, and the government in power allowed only the communist cult to flourish. Revolting against this diktat, Kiwerski and a few friends formed the avant-garde group Zamek (Grupa Zamek) in 1957 to defend the freedom of expression of art and artists alike.

 

In 1950-55 Riszard Kiwerski studied art history at the Catholic University of Lublin. He was a co-founder of the Circle of Young Artists (K.M.P - Koła Młodych Plastyków) and a member of the Zamek collective. Kiwerski's artistic quest is best illustrated by his work ‘Trucizna zabija powoli’ (‘Poison kills slowly’) (1955), which was created precisely as a result of his search for strong expression. Shortly afterwards the painter attempted to create paintings in the spirit of surrealism, as in ‘Kobieta i Mrówka’ (‘The Woman and the Ant’) (1957). The composition features a stylised portrait of a woman against a neutral brick-coloured background. This clear, simple layout is complicated by a surreal element - an ant of unearthly size appears next to the woman's face.

 

At the end of the fifties Riszard Kiwerski changed his style and creates suggestive abstract paintings of a structural nature ‘Łzy czyli zły’ (‘tears therefore anger’) (1958), meticulously executed according to the Zamek group facture expressed in the work of Borowski, Dzieduszycki i Ziemski.