Tadeusz Kantor
Tadeusz Kantor graduated from high school in Tarnów and later from the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts. He was a professor at the same university. In 1961 he married the painter Maria Stangert. Painting was his main interest from the start of the studies. During World War II He used to work in the artistic underground. He secretly initiated the establishment of the Independent Theatre. He was also a director and prepared several stage productions, including „Balladyna” and „The Return of Odysseus”.
Tadeusz Kantor painted in a surreal style. He ceased this activity after the communist authorities accepted the inclusion of socialist realist works. Therefore, the first exhibition of Tadeusz Kantor took place only after the war, in 1955. Two years later, he began to refer to informel. Kantor did not focus only on painting. All the time he was in the theatre Cricot which he created. First, he staged plays by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, and with time he began to create plays himself. In addition, he also organized many happenings.
Kantor's painting is characterized by abstractness and abandoning of all conventions of art. He created several manifestos on canvas, for example, „Emballage Hołdu Pruskiego” and „Multipart”. Equally well-known paintings are „Kobieta w drzwiach”, „Portrait of Tadeusz Brzozowski”, and „Praczka”. He stopped painting in the 80s. At that time He created a series of farewell pieces of art - „Dalej już nic...”.
The achievements of Kantor's painting were recognized in 1978, when he received the prestigious prize.