Dwurnik. Totally

The works presented at the Dwurnik. Totally exhibition are, first and foremost, the image of an extensive private collection, gathered over the years, with works added through acquisition at auctions, in galleries and from the artist direct. The last way is the most interesting as it depends on the personal relation between the collector and the artist. The relation is often difficult, encompassing the private sphere and numerous attempts to obtain new works for the collection. Meetings, talks, negotiations, sometimes even fights for a specific painting. Many weeks of effort could end in failure – owing to the artist’s whims, his sentiment for his paintings, or his offhand demands of unimaginable sums – followed by unexpected turns of events, moments of “weakness” and successful transactions. This is the story of building the collection and obtaining the most significant items.

The effect is 75 oil paintings and about 160 drawings, prints, collages and watercolours.  Together they constitute more than 235 works of one man, showing Edward Dwurnik’s artistic journey on a smaller scale. Still, the collection is only a drop in the sea of his artistic achievements. Edward Dwurnik died in late 2018, leaving about 8,000 paintings, thousands of drawings and other so-called paper-based works. These numbers leave no doubt that he was a total artist, aware of his greatness.