Andrzej Kurkowski

Andrzej Kurkowski was born on July 31 in Częstochowa. 

In the years 1949–1954 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, graduating in scenography. 

For the next three years, he continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he obtained his diploma in the book graphics studio in 1958 with prof. Jan Marcin Szancer. He most often used ink, pencil, oil, tempera, watercolor, as well as graphic techniques: etching, linocut and drypoint.

He exhibited his works both individually and collectively, mainly in Warsaw, but also in Kraków, Wrocław and Radom. He participated in artistic events such as the International Biennale of Graphics in Krakow (1964) and the 1st Drawing Triennial at the Silesian Museum in Wrocław (1965). In 1966, he received a distinction in the competition of the Association of Polish Artists for his illustrations to the works of Bertold Brecht. These works also took part in the event "B. Brecht – Malerei, Graphik, Plastik zu seinem Werk", held at the Deutsche Akademie der Künste in Berlin the same year.

Literature and theater are the fields that fascinated and inspired Kurkowski the most, often intertwining in his works. From the very beginning, the artist also revealed an excellent sense of humor and a talent as a caricaturist. The inspiration for his art was the writer, illustrator and graphic artist Bruno Schulz, as well as the symbolist painter Witold Wojtkiewicz. In their works, he was fascinated by the expression of personal experiences, feelings and hidden desires.

In the 1960s and 1970s, he illustrated about twenty books of many literary genres, including: fairy tales, e.g. "The Tale of an Old Caravel" by Ewa Szelburg-Zarembina, historical novels such as "Skazany na Wielłość" by Marcelina Grabowska or adventure books, e.g. "St. Ives, or The Adventures of a French Prisoner in England” by Robert Louis Stevenson. His achievements also include illustrations to the greatest world classics, such as "The Queen of Spades" and "Eugene Onegin" by Alexander Pushkin. He had the ability to empathize with the action and emotional states of the characters and perfectly capture the character of a given story.

Andrzej Kurkowski spent most of his life in Warsaw. He died on October 2, 1994.