Database

Janina Kraupe-Świderska

Janina Kraupe-Świderska

Born January 27 1921, Sosnowiec
Lived in Kraków
Died March 3 2016, Kraków

Janina Kraupe-Swiderska was a Polish painter and graphic artist, a member of the progressive Polish group Grupa Krakovska and the Katowice group Grupa Oneiron (Henryk Waniek, Urszula Broll-Urbanowicz, Andrzej Urbanowicz) whose members share an interest in Buddhism, Far-Eastern cultures and Zen. Kraupe-Swiderská's works are a means of discovering the spiritual world through the material world, through which the absolute limit may be reached.


painting, graphics, drawing

1938

In 1938, Kraupe-Swiderská began her studies at the Akademia Sztuk Pięknych/ Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. For the next two years she studied under the leadership of professor Paweł Dadlez (1904-1940). At the outbreak of the second world war, she left the Academy and worked in the studio of Fryderyk Pautsche (1877-1950) at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Krakow, along with Tadeusz Brzozowki, (1918-1987), Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990), Kazimierz Mikulski (1918-1998) and Mieczyslaw Prebski (1921-2012). As with her classmates, she participated in the activities of Kantor's conspiracy theatre (1942-1943). As early as 1945 she returned to the Academy. She studied painting under the leadership of Eugeniusz Eibisch (1896-1987) and Wacław Taranczewski (1903-1987), and graphics under the leadership of Andrej Jurkiewicz (1907-1967) and Konrad Srzednicki (1894-1993).

1940

Kraupe-Swiderská's early works, in particular her portraits (Portret P. Brzozowskiej/ Portrait of P. Brzozowská, 1940

1947

Kraupe-Swiderská took a study trip to Holland during which she made contact with the Cobra Group (1948-1951).

1948

I Ogólnopolska wystawa sztuki nowoczesnej (group exhibition, Kraków)

1950

Janina Kraupe-Swiderská's father died in 1950. The traumatic experience initiated her interested in occultism and astrology.

1951

Artists for peace (group exhibition, Warsaw)

1955

Under the influence of the unexpected initiation experience of the impulsive, automatic painting of "internal reality", Kraupe-Swiderská worked on the series of 18 monotypes of Metamorfozy/ Metamorphoses (1955). Instead of monochromatic black-and-white, she gradually preferred more varied colours and, as far as techniques are concerned, she began to use linocut more frequently (Metamorfozy/ Metamorphoses, 1963). Metaphoric painting, greatly influenced by surrealism, is typical of her works from the 1950's (Gorgona, 1959). In the early 1960's a more serious reflection of musical themes started to appear in her works for the first time.
In the mid 1950's Kraupe-Swiderská participated in exhibitions of Polish art abroad. Her works were included in exhibitions in Copenhagen, Minsk, Kiev, and Vienna (1955), and later in Montreal, New Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Leipzig, and Berlin (1956). She spent the autumn of 1956 in Paris and in western France.

1957

Kraupe-Swiderská worked on illustrations for Konstanta Ildefons Galczyński's book Niobe.
II Exhibition of Modern Art (group exhibition, Warsaw)
Graphic exhibition of young Polish artists (group exhibition, Budapest)

1958

Janina Kraupe-Świderska (solo exhibition, Kraków)

1959

National Exhibition of Prints and Drawings (group exhibition, Warsaw)
Krakow Group Exhibition (group exhibition, Poznań)

1960

I Biennial of Graphic Arts in Krakow (group exhibition, Kraków)
Krakow Group Exhibition (group exhibition, Kraków)
Salon of the Society of Fine Arts in Krakow (group exhibition, Kraków)

1961

In the early 1960's, in the year of her 40th birthday, an individual exhibition of her work was held in Palac sztuki/ The Palace of Fine Arts in Krakow (accompanied by a catalogue with a text by Zofia Ratkowska-Wielowieyska).
Janina Kraupe-Świderska (solo exhibition, Kraków)
The Jubilee Exhibition (group exhibition, Kraków)

1962

Na blankytu
Na blankytu (graphics)


1965

Celina
Celina (graphics)
Heavenly sheet
Heavenly sheet (graphics)


1966

The Zachęta in Warsaw and the Krzysztofora Gallery also held extensive individual exhibition of her work. The summary catalogue included an introductory study by professor Mieczysław Porębski (1921-2012).

1971

Early Spring (painting)



1975

Venus
Venus (graphics)

Musical themes in graphics (group exhibition, Kraków)

1978

Sygnatura Iwa
Sygnatura Iwa (graphics)

National Exhibition of Graphic Art (group exhibition, Warsaw)
International Drawing Triennial in Wroclaw (1978) (group exhibition, Wrocław)

1979

Astarte
Astarte (graphics)


1980

In the early 1980's a distinctive abstract language and a sort of "esoteric script" started to appear more frequently in the works of Janina Kraupe-Swiderská. For example the musical motifs (Preludia Chopina/ Chopin's Preludes, 1985
Kraupe-Swiderská was appointed a professor at her Alma Mater, Akademie Sztuk Pięknych/ the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow.

1981

Received award from Amici del Pomero
IX Exhibition of Polish Graphics (group exhibition, Warsaw)

1984

In the mid 1980's Kraupe-Swiderská also worked on the cycle Transmutace/ Transmutations (1984). It was a response to a serious disease which she overcame and which caused her to contemplate shared energy, the bond between the human soul and the landscape in which we live, as well as the game animals and plants.
X International Biennial of Graphic Arts (group exhibition, Kraków)
The exhibition of MBG Laureates (group exhibition, Kraków)
Intergrafia (group exhibition, Katowice)
XXIII Premi Dibuix Joan Miro (group exhibition, Barcelona)

1985

Janina Kraupe-Świderska (solo exhibition, Kraków)
V Collection of the Cracow Group (group exhibition, Kraków)

1986

Przeswit (painting)

Janina Kraupe-Świderska (solo exhibition, London)

1987

Janina Kraupe-Świderska (solo exhibition, Łódź)
Grafica polacca contemporanea (group exhibition, Milano)
Painting Vision 87 (group exhibition, Kraków)
The Krakow Group (group exhibition, Kraków)
IV Quadrennial of Polish Woodcut and Linocut (group exhibition, Olsztyn)
Parola come immagine (group exhibition, Senigallia)

1991

International Triennial of Graphic Arts (group exhibition, Kraków)

1993

The Graphic Art in Cracow (group exhibition, Katowice)
Madame Lila (group exhibition, Kraków)

1994

The International Print Triennial (group exhibition, Kraków)
Intergrafia '94 (group exhibition, Katowice)
Colour in Graphic '94 (group exhibition, Toruń)
National Exhibition of Graphic Art (group exhibition, Katowice)

1996

The small Drawings (group exhibition, Łódź)

1997

Received award from Witold Wojtkiewicz Award
Received award from Award of the City of Kraków

2000

Donations (group exhibition, Bochum)
Nowocześni and socialist realism (group exhibition, Kraków)
Nowocześni after years 1945 - 1954 | Nowocześni and socialist realism (group exhibition, Warsaw)
National Exhibition of Graphic Arts (group exhibition, Katowice)
Colour in Graphic (2000) (group exhibition, Toruń)
International Print Triennial in Krakow (group exhibition, Kraków)
Krakow Group Exhibition (group exhibition, Kraków)

2003

Janina Kraupe-Świderska (solo exhibition, Poznań)

2010

Musical Inspirations (group exhibition, Kraków)


Muzeum umění Olomouc 2011-2024