Edward Dwurnik (born April 19, 1943 in Radzymin, d. October 28, 2018Malarz i grafik Edward Dwurnik nie żyje. wyborcza.pl, October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018. in WarsawNie żyje Edward Dwurnik. Miał 75 lat. polskieradio24.pl, October 28, 2018. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.) was a Polish contemporary artist. He was involved in various art forms, including painting, drawing, graphic art, and sculpture.
Life Edward Dwurnik was born on April 19, 1943, in Radzymin near Warsaw. His father, Władysław, owned a metal goods workshop, and the artist’s mother, Władysława (née Kaszuba), attended to the household duties while practicing embroidery in her free time. Apart from Edward, there were three other children in the family: Elżbieta (b. 1939), Zofia (b. 1947), and the youngest one, Józef (b. 1949).Edward Dwurnik. Od grudnia do czerwca, ed. Maryla Sitkowska (Bydgoszcz and Bytom: Muzeum Okręgowe im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego w Bydgoszczy and Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu, 1997). Exhibition catalog, p. 150.
In 1958, he began his education at State Artistic Secondary School on ulica Łazienkowska in Warsaw, which is now home to the Paderewski Museum. He was expelled from the school in 1961 for, as he himself admitted, “fighting and smoking cigarettes.” Dwurnik continued his education at a state high school in Otwock, where he passed the final exams on June 8, 1963. During that time, in addition to working at his father’s workshop, he honed his artistic skill in art classes at the Youth Culture Center, and in private painting lessons from Czesław Wdowiszewski and his wife Nina.
He began studying at the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1963. Between 1966 and 1967, Dwurnik studied at the Faculty of Sculpture, where he met Teresa Gierzyńska, his future partner. In 1970, after seven years, he graduated from the painting studio of Professor Eugeniusz Eibisch. Edward Dwurnik’s diploma work consisted of a series of paintings, Dyplom (Diploma; 1969–1970), and a dissertation, “Rozumienie dzieła sztuki” (Understanding a Work of Art), which he wrote under the supervision of Professor Ksawery Piwocki.Kuryłek, D. “Biografia artystyczna Edwarda Dwurnika,” [in:] Edward Dwurnik. Obłęd / Madness, ed. Kowalczyk Anna (Kraków: Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, 2013). Exhibition catalog, p. 183.
Work
Dwurnik’s work is divided into a complex series of paintings. Created in parallel over the years, the series often intertwine. He was a highly prolific artist who, during his long artistic career, created over 8,000 paintings on canvas and over 20,000 works on paper, each of which he meticulously described and documented in his own register.Edward Dwurnik – biography. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
In 1965, he first encountered the work of self-taught artist Nikifor Krynicki, whose influence shaped his own artistic style, characterized by synthetic contour drawing and narrativeness. From this moment forward, Dwurnik’s work gained new momentum, and his non-academic output began with Rysunek nr 1 (Drawing No. 1),Drawing No. 1 Retrieved October 29, 2025. dated June, 13 1965. In a 1996 interview, Dwurnik referred to Krynicki’s exhibition as fundamental to his artistic growth: “He was my greatest master, in fact the only one. I have never experienced greater emotions than those evoked in me by his paintings when I saw them in person.”O Nikiforze (z Edwardem Dwurnikiem), „Odra” 4/1996. In the same year, Dwurnik began working on the series Podróże autostopem (Hitchhiking trpis), the oldest and most extensive series in his oeuvre. According to the artist’s catalog,Edward Dwurnik Catalog of works. Retrieved October 29, 2025. maintained online by the Edward Dwurnik Foundation, this series consists of over two and a half thousand works.Edward Dwurnik Foundation. Retrieved October 29, 2025. The theme of the paintings was urban landscape, painted from a bird’s-eye view, with characteristic accumulation of motifs: people and architectural elements. Inspired by Krynicki’s painting, Dwurnik adopted and then perfected the method of rendering vedute, based on simplified drawing and the use of color patches surrounded by dark contours. Strong stylistic similarities can be noticed between his first works in the series and Nikifor’s compositions. In subsequent years, Dwurnik gradually added new components, giving the buildings a three-dimensional quality, and introduced a repertoire of motifs that did not appear in the work of the artist from Krynica. In the 1990s, he also created two unofficial subseries: Miasta diagonalne (Diagonal Cities) and Niebieskie miasta (Blue Cities).Hitchhiking trips series. Retrieved June 10, 2025. The Podróże autostopem series is numbered nine and does not include depictions of Warsaw, to whose landscapes Dwurnik devoted a separate series, numbered eleven, entitled Warszawa (Warsaw).
In 1971, his first solo exhibition was held at the contemporary art gallery Galeria Współczesna in Warsaw. He presented paintings from the series: Dyplom (1969–1970), Gipsowy plener (Gypsum Exterior; 1970–1971), Droga (Way of the Cross; 1970–1971), Różne błękity (Different Blues; 1971), Namiętności (Passions; 1969).Edward Dwurnik. Od grudnia do czerwca, ed. Maryla Sitkowska (Bydgoszcz and Bytom: Muzeum Okręgowe im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego w Bydgoszczy and Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu, 1997). Exhibition catalog, p. 156. Dwurnik was already a full-fledged artist, appreciated for his “rebellious attitude”Krauze W. “Życie Warszawy” 251/1971. and “conclusions drawn from various trends in youth anti-art.”Skrodzki W. “Współczesność” 23/1971. During his first trip abroad to Paris in 1967, he encountered the work of Bernard Buffet, which significantly influenced his expressive painting style.Deptuła N. “Do czego Polakom potrzebny jest Edward Dwurnik,” [in:] Edward Dwurnik Malarstwo. Próba retrospektywy, eds. Teresa Stepnowska and Jolanta Chrzanowska-Pieńkos (Warszawa: Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, 2001). Exhibition catalog, p. 20.
In 1972, he began working on the series Sportowcy (Sportsmen), which premiered in Galeria Arkady in Krakow in 1974. Its title referred to a brand of cigarettes, Sport, commonly smoked during the communist era. Dwurnik focused on depicting ordinary people and their everyday problems, characteristic of life in the Polish People’s Republic. The series is often considered one of the most valuable works documenting everyday life in communist Poland. During almost twenty years of working on this series, Edward Dwurnik created 274 canvases.
Between 1975 and 1991, Dwurnik worked on a painting series titled Robotnicy (Workers). The 1980s were turbulent for him, and the political events in the country had a crucial impact on the themes of his paintings. The groundbreaking events of labor strikes, the birth of the “Solidarity” movement, the reality of martial law – as well as the first free election and the change of the political system – inspired Dwurnik to create a series of 260 paintings and a few hundred drawings, collages, and graphics. The canvases from the Robotnicy series are painted with dynamic brushstrokes and kept in dark tones. From 1972 to 1977, he participated in the artistic movement “O poprawę” (For Improvement).Edward Dwurnik. Robotnicy, ed. Pola Dwurnik (Warszawa: Fundacja Edwarda Dwurnika, 2023). Exhibition catalog, p. 76.
In 1981, as a part of the Warszawa series, Edward Dwurnik included a prophetic vision of martial law, which was announced on December 13, 1981. In the winter scenery of the capital city, the artist placed crows on the snow, barbed wires, and tanks on empty streets, which constituted a clear metaphor of the upcoming events.Edward Dwurnik – Life and work. culture.pl, January, 2012. Retrieved: June 10, 2025.
Despite the country’s political turmoil, the turn of the 1970s and 1980s was a time of numerous successes for Dwurnik, both professionally and personally. In 1989, his first solo exhibition abroad was presented at the Georg van Almsick Gallery in Gronau-Epe.Edward Dwurnik. Od grudnia do czerwca, ed. Maryla Sitkowska (Bydgoszcz and Bytom: Muzeum Okręgowe im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego w Bydgoszczy and Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu, 1997). Exhibition catalog, p. 170. A year later, his daughter Apolonia Dwurnik was born. At the same time, Edward Dwurnik began working on the series Krzyż (Cross; 1979–1991), which explored the iconography of crucifixion. In 1982, as the only Pole, Edward Dwurnik participated in the prestigious documenta 7 exhibition in Kassel, where he had the opportunity to meet the famous German artist, Joseph Beuys.Kuryłek, D. “Biografia artystyczna Edwarda Dwurnika,” [in:] Edward Dwurnik. Obłęd / Madness, ed. Kowalczyk Anna (Kraków: Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, 2013). Exhibition catalog, p. 187. Five years later, in 1987, the first museum exhibition of Dwurnik’s works took place in the National Museum in Wroclaw.Kuryłek, D. “Biografia artystyczna Edwarda Dwurnika,” [in:] Edward Dwurnik. Obłęd / Madness, ed. Kowalczyk Anna (Kraków: Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, 2013). Exhibition catalog, p. 188.
The early 1990s mark the politically engaged painting series, such as Droga na wschód (The Way to the East; 1989–1991), devoted to the victims of Stalin’s regime, and Od grudnia do czerwca (From December to June; 1990–1993), which was a tribute to the ninety-six people murdered during martial law, listed in a report by a special committee appointed by Contract Sejm to investigate the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Between 1991 and 1994, Dwurnik worked on the Niech żyje wojna! (Long Live the War!) series which criticized and commented on the tragic events in the former Yugoslavia. At the same time, he created canvases inspired by sea views from the series Błękitny (Blue; 1992–2018) and humorous paintings from the series Wyliczanka (Counting; 1966–1999).Works on canvas, dwurnik.pl. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
Between 2000 and 2018, as part of the XXV series, Dwurnik created abstract paintings in the style of action painting, which were presented in an exhibition entitled Edward Dwurnik. Thanks Jackson in 2005 in Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art in Krakow. Simultaneously, Dwurnik also created large-format paintings which entered into dialogue with the work of Jan Matejko, an example of which is Bitwa pod Grunwaldem (The Battle of Grunwald) from 2010, painted for the six hundredth anniversary of the historic victory.“Bitwa pod Grunwaldem” Edwarda Dwurnika, dwutygodnik.com. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
Since 2019, Edward Dwurnik has been represented in the art world by the private gallery Raster in Warsaw.Edward Dwurnik represented in the art world by the private gallery Raster Retrieved June 10, 2025.
Personal life In 1968, Dwurnik married photographer Teresa Gierzyńska,Edward Dwurnik. Od grudnia do czerwca, ed. Maryla Sitkowska (Bydgoszcz and Bytom: Muzeum Okręgowe im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego w Bydgoszczy and Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu, 1997). Exhibition catalog, p. 154. with whom he remained in a relationship until 2003.Krawiec, Z. Miłosny performans. Tarnów: Lampa i Iskra Boża: 2016), p. 94.Edward Dwurnik. Od grudnia do czerwca, ed. Maryla Sitkowska (Bydgoszcz and Bytom: Muzeum Okręgowe im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego w Bydgoszczy and Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu, 1997). Exhibition catalog, p. 171. Together they had one child.Pola Dwurnik - MEET THE ARTIST Retrieved: November 03, 2025. From 1983, they lived in the SadybaEdward Dwurnik. Od grudnia do czerwca, ed. Maryla Sitkowska (Bydgoszcz and Bytom: Muzeum Okręgowe im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego w Bydgoszczy and Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu, 1997). Exhibition catalog, p. 181. neighborhood in Warsaw, which is the current location of the Edward Dwurnik Foundation, run by the artist’s family.Fundacja Edwarda Dwurnika pielęgnuje spuściznę artysty, vogue.pl. Retrieved June 10, 2025
Selected solo exhibitions