Jan Berdyszak, REFLECTIONS III, 1959

68.5 x 34.5 cm - gouache on cardboard

on the reverse: COMPOSITION
68.5 x 34.5 cm – dimensions inside the passe-partout
signed in red crayon lower left: Reflections III 959 [partially painted over]
A work from the artist’s early exploratory period, when he was moving away from traditionally understood two-dimensional painting toward approaches aimed at constructing the painting as a spatial structure.



♣ Droit de suite: ♣ A fee will be added to the Purchase Price pursuant to the right of the artist and his heirs to receive remuneration in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994, on Copyright and Related Rights (droit de suite).

Jan Berdyszak (Zawory 1934 – Poznań 2014) studied sculpture at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Poznań from 1952 to 1958, while simultaneously undertaking independent experiments in painting and printmaking. From an early stage, his work focused on issues of space. In the series “Double Circles” (1962–64 and 1967–69), he broke with the convention of the rectangular painting format. The paintings consisted of two circles, arranged vertically one above the other, covered with dynamic, contrasting forms that created an internal space within the composition. The next stage of his exploration involved introducing real space into the painting in the form of a hole cut into the canvas. From 1967 onward, the space intruding into the fabric of the painting achieved a sense of “liberation” through the division of the work into separate parts, which were exhibited in various arrangements (symmetrically, antithetically, perpendicular to one another in a corner of the room, etc.). While Berdyszak’s experiments with painting and space had previously been accompanied by graphic works (plaster engravings, woodcuts, especially the “Compositions of Circles” series), it was at this point that painting intersected with sculpture. Also from this period are multi-part, collapsible forms made of colorful, enameled sheet metal, designed to be arranged in any combination. From the late 1960s onward, Berdyszak’s painted surfaces became flat, and his forms sharply defined. The artist attempted to translate concepts such as openness, infinity, and potentiality—rooted in Eastern philosophical thought—into a visual language. At the same time, in the series “Concentrating Areas” (1973–80), he proposed forms that encouraged the viewer to meditate. The series of objects made of glass and Plexiglas titled “Transparent” (1970–78) was continued in installations from the 1980s and 1990s. Starting in 1990, the artist created the “Passe-partout” series, realized in the form of objects, installations, prints, and other works. These are objects that replicate the form of a print mount but feature an empty opening that reveals the surroundings. Berdyszak’s body of work also includes ephemeral performances, a vast number of sketches, and written and spoken texts created for various meetings, lectures, presentations, and the like. Beginning in 1965, he taught at his alma mater (the Academy of Fine Arts since 1996). From the very beginning, alongside his main artistic practice, he worked in theater set design (collaborating, among others, with the “Marcinek” Theater in Poznań).
He died on September 18, 2014