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Nikifor (21 May 1895,〔 Krynica-Zdrój, Austria-Hungary - 10 October 1968, Folusz, Poland) (also known as Nikifor Krynicki and Epifaniusz Drowniak1) was a Lemko folk and naïve painter.〔Paul R. Magocsi, Ivan Ivanovich Pop. ''Encyclopedia of Rusyn History and Culture''. University of Toronto Press. 2002.〕 Nikifor painted over 40,000 pictures - on sheets of paper, pages of notebooks, cigarette cartons, and even on scraps of paper glued together. The topics of his art include self-portraits and panoramas of Krynica, with its spas and Orthodox and Catholic churches. Underestimated for most of his life, in his late days he became famous as a naïve painter. == Biography == Little is known of Nikifor's private life. For most of his life, he lived alone in extreme poverty in Krynica, and was considered mentally challenged. He had difficulties speaking and was almost illiterate. It was not until his later years that it was discovered his tongue was in fact attached to his palate, causing his speech to be unintelligible to most people. In 1930, his first paintings were discovered by Roman Turyn, who brought them to Paris. That gained Nikifor some fame among the ''Kapists'', a group of young painters formed around Józef Pankiewicz. This did not, however, change his fate, as his art was still underestimated in Poland. In 1938 Jerzy Wolff did publish an enthusiastic review of Nikifor's art in the (Polish) ''Arkady'' monthly, and purchased some of his works. However, the advent of World War II prevented Nikifor from gaining much popular notoriety. In 1947 Nikifor was deported during Operation Vistula, where the Lemko and Ukrainian minorities were forcably resettled by the communist puppet regime to northern and western Poland, away from their ancestral homelands in the southeast. Three times he attempted to return to Krynica. He was actually exceptionally lucky that the authorities allowed him to stay the third time, as others who attempted to return to their native villages were often sent to the concentration camp in Jaworzno. In 1960 Nikifor met Marian Włosiński, a painter living in Krynica. The latter decided to devote his career and life to helping the elderly artist and promoted his works in the major galleries of Poland. This led to a large and successful exhibition in Warsaw at the Zachęta Art Gallery. After the death of Nikifor in 1968, most of his works were preserved by Włosiński and donated to various museums. The most complete collection is stored in the Regional Museum of Nowy Sącz and the Krynica-based museum of Nikifor. Nikifor's last years were the topic of the 2004 film ''My Nikifor'' by Krzysztof Krauze, featuring actress Krystyna Feldman in the role of the artist. During his early life Nikifor received care at a local hospital in Krynica and paid for the services with his paintings. As he mixed his paints with spit and the hospital feared he had Tuberculosis, many of the paintings were destroyed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nikifor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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