Paradoxical creativity

Jan Jerzyczek’s work is often described as paradoxical. This is because his workshop skills and painting practice were categorised as folk art, even though the artist himself copied 17th-century paintings and painted on the basis of 16th-century Antwerp prints.

The paradoxical nature of his work also lay in the fact that he was much better at painting pictures inspired by his own participation in mysteries and his observation of life at the time.
In his paintings, in addition to the main scene, he composed ‘genre scenes’ in the background depicting motifs from the life of the local community as well as the products of the local lace-making craft.

The project ‘The Heritage of the Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Sanctuary on the UNESCO Trail’ is co-financed by the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.

Photo: K. Kozieł