Polish Painter Nikifor , also known as Nikifor Krynicki 1895-1968. "KRYNICA SELO" .
Nikifor was a self-taught artist, he is ranked among the most outstanding naive primitive painters of the world. He was born on May 21, 1895 in Krynica, Poland. His real name was Epifan Drowniak.  His mother was Jewdokia Drowniak. She was a beggar woman who lived in seclusion with her illegitimate son. Nikifor grew up in abject poverty. He became an orphan in WW1. He had speech defect and was humiliated and laughed at. Until the year 1963 he hadn’t had a surname, he had used only a name. In that year he had his ID issued and officially received a surname ‘Krynicki’. In documents a ficticious date of birth and false parents’ names were written. Only after his death in year 2003 – court in Muszyna judged that the real name and surname of Nikifor was: Epifaniusz (Epifan) Drowniak.  He was a semiliterate person. The majority of primitive works is painted in water-colours, sometimes connected with tempera and oil-colour. He was using crayons only in the final years of his life. The primitivism of his works can be noticed in the way he outlined all the elements of a work with a thin black line and then he filled the surface with vivid colours. He was using crayons only in the final years of his life. The primitivism of his works can be noticed in the way he outlined all the elements of a work with a thin black line and then he filled the surface with vivid colours. In his arduous life Nikifor painted tens of thousands of pictures, none of which was never the same. 

Watercolour, pencil, gouache, gelpen on beige paper.  8"x12" with out frame.
PROVENANCE: Krynica, Poland gallery