WARSAW.- The sale of nearly 200 outstanding works of art from the well-known collection of Grażyna Kulczyk, organised by
DESA Unicum, is scheduled for October 18-20, 2022. This unprecedented event is the most important of its kind not only in the history of the Polish art market, but also of the region. The auction will include works that have not come onto the market for years – works by Tadeusz Kantor, Wojciech Fangor, Henryk Stażewski or Jerzy Nowosielski, as well as works of Polish and foreign artists of the younger generation. Never before has a Polish auction house offered so many outstanding works of art endorsed by the name of such a world-renowned collector. Her collection is the most significant in Poland: revealing, selective, marked by boldness and a unique style.
In the part of the collection put up for sale there are recognised avant-garde classics, but also lesser known works - those that drew the collector’s attention, uncovering the talent and potential of artists. The auction of art works, organised by DESA Unicum, collected in five catalogues, will give a powerful injection of energy into the Polish market, but it also sure to arouse great interest abroad. The event also signifies a turning point in the social activities of the collector herself. Continuing the development of the collection, the activities of the Art Stations Foundation and the Susch Museum, Grażyna Kulczyk wants to fully devote her time and resources to the promotion of women in the world of art.
Collecting – mission, education, passion
I believe that art must live – says Grażyna Kulczyk
And together with DESA Unicum, she is putting up for auction some of the most important works from her collection, at the same time announcing the next chapter of her activities: in the coming years the collector will devote herself mainly to the promotion of women in the art world.
"The sale of works from Grażyna Kulczyk's collection is the most significant event on the Polish art market, not only because this is a collection of outstanding expressions of artistic creativity, which inspire and arouse admiration, but like its creator, they are a symbol of incredible boldness and faith in the creative power of art. This view is expressed both in the selection of works, covering the most important trends and media in post-war and contemporary art, and in the role that the collection has played, and continues to play, in public life. At the same time, it is not without cause that this collection reflects the directions of development of the art market. In her choices as a collector, Grażyna Kulczyk has been instrumental in greatly impacting the entire milieu. It is no exaggeration to say that the decisions that the collector made inspired others to be bold. She allowed others to see the potential, which she was the first to see.
This is the role played by the project that we are pleased to present to you" – says Agata Szkup, President of the Board of DESA Unicum. "I am deeply convinced that this event will be like a steroid injected into the very fabric of the art market. Thanks to the collection, the market changes its perspective, gains momentum, reflects upon itself, creates a stir among collectors. In a way, the owner of the collection exposes her passions, taste and sensitivity to the world, whilst the buyers give new life to the works, in new contexts. We are immensely proud that it is our institution and team that are able to manage this great undertaking today, thanks to experience gathered over the years. This auction is an event of global scale and rank."
"Today we are sharing an extraordinary collection – of almost 200 works, carefully selected and collected in five thematic catalogues: Avant-garde, Classics, Passion, Blow Up and Discovery. Where did the idea for the sale come from? Over the years these works have given me a lot of joy, they have fulfilled their role in my collection – it's time for them to live on, I do not want to appropriate them. I believe that they can give rise to or develop many more collections, inspire others, give other collectors the energy to promote art. I myself will go forward, in the direction that has been closest to me for years: I will devote myself 100% to the promotion of women in the world of art. Back in the ‘70s Linda Nochlin, the American art historian, wrote her famous essay: Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? They were there, but they were not talked about, they were not known, not promoted, others attributed their work to themselves. The history of art was written by men. Men who created works of art, who purchased them, who promoted them. I feel that I can help change that. I look upon this auction as the next natural step. Everything I do, from the creation of the Old Brewery, through to collection or activity in the programme boards of world museums and foundations, to the Susch Museum, has always allowed me to influence reality, shape it through culture. I really believe that art has such power. Today I am certain that this is a force that must be used to sow excitement and create an impulse of energy for other collections, on the one hand, and on the other, to support the role and position of women in the modern world. I can and I want to use my resources today to give women a voice and I will devote the coming years to this goal" - says Grażyna Kulczyk.
The GK Collection and DESA Unicum – a joint mission
The key that combines the philosophy of Grażyna Kulczyk and the DESA Unicum Auction House is a mission driven approach to business and many years of social engagement in the promotion of art and recognition of its importance for culture, education and development.
The collection of Grażyna Kulczyk, for many years listed amongst the Top 200 Collectors by the prestigious ARTnews magazine, is only one of the elements of her extensive activities in the field of art promotion. The collector is also known for her massive investments, such as The Old Brewery in Poznań, which for years was called Poland’s largest private cultural institution (organising more than 1,500 cultural events over a span of nearly 20 years) or the Swiss Susch Museum, located between Davos and St. Moritz, which attracts thousands of visitors from around the world, both to its permanent exhibition of extraordinary works by Polish artists and to its temporary exhibitions, focused on promoting the works of outstanding women artists. For years, the collector has also been involved in the promotion of the art of Poland and the region. Presented a few years ago at the Santander Foundation in Madrid, an exhibition of over 100 works from her collection was one of the largest exhibitions of Polish modern art ever shown abroad. A permanent platform for the implementation of a broad social mission is the Art Stations Foundation, which has been operating for almost 20 years. It organises exhibitions, performances, concerts, issues publications, in addition to implementing educational programmes and promoting contemporary art in the space of everyday life.
"From the beginning of its existence DESA Unicum has dedicated itself to the idea of education and development of the market, creating its strong substantive, legal and formal foundations, for the benefit of both clients and artists. Over the years, we have established relationships with thousands of collectors and investors, mainly Polish, but also foreign, who build their collections with our expert support. Historically, we have undertaken extremely ambitious challenges, creating pioneering auctions on the Polish market or acquiring works of art that were considered lost or inaccessible to the general public for years" – says Juliusz Windorbski, President of DESA S.A.
Today, DESA Unicum is the only auction house in Poland able to conduct an operation as complex as the sale of almost 200 works of art from the collection of Grażyna Kulczyk. The substantive development of the collection is the task of the team that prepares auctions of contemporary art, art of the new generation or photography on a daily basis. The coordinators have vast experience in researching and valuing works of art from similar periods. Works that reached record amounts at auction passed through their hands, as did those that were previously underappreciated, passed over or underestimated by the art market.
The exhibition of objects currently on display at DESA Unicum since October 4th, ul. Piękna 1aA, Warsaw, will continue through to October 20th. The auctions will take place from 18 to 20 October 2022.
Catalogue descriptions
Avant-garde, Classics, Passion, Blow Up and Discovery
Catalogue number 1 – AWANGARDA (AVANT-GARDE)
The GK Collection. AWANGARDA (AVANT-GARDE) – October 18, 2022
The auction entitled AVANT-GARDE represent the works of the most important contemporary artists, female and male, Polish and foreign. The aim is to show the character and the wide spectrum of directions of development of the collection and to answer the question – why specifically did this art have such a profound impact? The catalogue will reflect a journey through the art of the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century. In addition to the history of the collection, the artistic relations and trends represented by artists whose works are included in the collection are described. The broad substantive study, which focuses on the milestones in the development of European culture, will help not only to bring the audience closer to the history of art based on the examples of these works, but also to show why the collection is one of the most important of its kind in Europe.
Catalogue number 2 – KLASYKA (CLASSICS)
The GK Collection. KLASYKA (CLASSICS) – Tadeusz Kantor – October 19, 2022
The auction catalogue is a monograph devoted to Tadeusz Kantor, who can undoubtedly be called a CLASSIC of the contemporary era. Due to the vast array of his works in the collection, their cross-cutting nature and the position this artist holds in world of Polish post-war art, an entire catalogue is dedicated to him. The authors want to show Kantor as the most important Polish artist active after the war, a complete, timeless artist, an original persona of the underground and experimental theatre, and finally an undisputed reformer and animator of cultural life in Poland
which was reborn after the war.
DESA Unicum wishes to show Kantor as an artist of extreme sensitivity, gripped with a passion to create, uncompromising and, above all, absolutely modern. The aim of the narrative is also to emphasise the international standing of this artist. "Among Polish artists, it was Kantor was most attuned to the pulse of artistic life in Western Europe and the United States. He believed in progress and was constantly looking for new, hitherto unused forms of artistic expression. Therefore, each of the artist’s foreign journeys brought new Western directions and trends to Poland. We believe that the comprehensive scope of Kantor's artistic work provides unusually interesting, multi-threaded material for the monograph, a valuable source of knowledge for those interested in Kantor's work, as well as an extremely important event for collectors" – write DESA Unicum experts about the catalogue.
Catalogue number 3 – PASJA (PASSION)
The GK Collection. PASJA (PASSION) – Markowski – Chlanda – Szewczyk – October 19, 2022
PASSION is the keyword in expressing the collector's fascination, the road to making unorthodox choices, of perceiving values and names that others would not have paid attention to for a long time yet. The catalogue focuses on three names: Eugeniusz Markowski, Andrzej Szewczyk and Marek Chlanda. It is a pretext to convey the history of art through the prism of the artistic work of these three innovators. Each of them produced art that was unparalleled at the time of its creation. For many years they were ignored by the collector's market. Today, they are much more appreciated, primarily due to the conscious choices of people such as Grażyna Kulczyk.
Catalogue number 4 – POWIĘKSZENIE (BLOW UP)
The GK Collection. POWIĘKSZENIE (BLOW UP) – October 20, 2022
BLOW UP in the title of the catalogue is a reference to photographic terminology, but also to the increasing importance of photography in the world of collectors. For several years, photography has been a constant and increasingly powerful part of the art market. New collectors are also appearing. This is thanks to such figures as Grażyna Kulczyk, who is undoubtedly a forerunner in creating a conscious and committed photographic collection in Poland. With unheard of sensitivity and intuition she sought out the works of various artists and then juxtaposed them with each other in a way so that they give each other new and revealing contexts and meaning. The auction is to show how a passion for collecting, together with aesthetic sense allows the works of Polish and world photographic personalities to coexist within one collection. From the formal experiments of Bronisława Schlabs and Joanna Zastróżna, to the works of the Polish critical “Lego” art from of Zbigniew Libera, the works of Dorota Nieznalska, the problems of identity and of the human condition portrayed by Krzysztof Kuzyszyn and Loretta Lux, and finally through to Zhang Huan's documentation of topics of historical and political change and their impact on social behaviour. The BLOW UP auction will also be the first of its kind on the Polish market, with such a spectacular and rich offer of recognised and sought-after world photography, including well-known names such as Thomas Ruff and Thomas Demand.
Catalogue number 5 – ODKRYCIA (DISCOVERIES)
The GK Collection. Discoveries – October 20, 2022
The most intriguing part of the whole series of works is to be found in DISCOVERIES. This will be the motto of the thematic group of works that have overcome the conventions of traditional art. The main accent will be on boldness; boldness of both the artist and the collector.
It is this part of the series that most strongly express the narrative of the collection, namely collecting as both a passion and a form of supporting the development of art. History shows that the most outstanding collectors, female and male alike, were able to discover potential where it was far from obvious. It was their patronage that allowed artists to develop. A perfect example of this is the collection presented in the catalogue, which will focus on the relationship between the artist and the collector. The provenance histories described in the catalogue have a distinctive character. They answer the question of why the particular work of this artist went to the collection. The aim will be to show that collecting can go beyond a desire to amass, beyond private pleasure, to have social meaning and a mission to support art, which has the potential to break boundaries.
A particularly crucial element of the catalogue is the whole chapter dedicated to showing trends in which artistic activities are combined with scientific and technological achievements. These works are often created through advanced processes that result in conceptual forms. The aim of this narrative will also be to draw attention to innovatorship, both of the artists and of the collector in her choices. A collector who is a member of a very select group of connoisseurs of this type of art.
Highlights – outstanding works in the auction
Wojciech Fangor, "Two Rainbows", 1962
Wojciech Fangor is one of the most famous and at the same time the most ground-breaking of Polish artists. In the 50s, he created the first environment in history. He was the author of his own painting theories and practices, the most famous of which was "Positive Illusory Space" founded on a different understanding of the space of the image, which is not limited to the canvas, but is based on what occurs between the viewer and the work. He belongs to the group of artists whose works are of interest to collectors from around the world.
Henryk Stażewski, “Relief biały nr XXVIII” (White Relief no. XXVIII), 1961
Henryk Stażewski is one of the most famous Constructivists in the world. A legend in his own lifetime, he was an ideological link between the pre-war and post-war achievements of Polish avant-garde art. Reliefs from the 50s and 60s, such as "White Relief No. XXVIII" are among the most important in his oeuvre. These works are characterised by discipline and clarity, close to the tradition initiated by Malevich and Mondrian. During this period, Stażewski consciously sought to narrow down artistic issues, focusing on primary concerns such as repetition, composition and movement. The goal became, as the artist himself put it: “to narrow down the problem to only one solution – repeating one form in different systems. The question of form ceases to exist, the problem of relations, proportions and construction appear” (Henryk Stażewski, [quoted in:] Dobrochna Strumiłło, Kolorowe reliefy Henryka Stażewskiego, “Projekt” 1962, nr 4 [31]).
Jerzy Nowosielski, “Abstrakcja” (Abstraction), 1958
Between East and West, tradition and modernity, abstraction and figuration, sacrum and profanum, this is the work of Jerzy Nowosielski. In his works, Nowosielski combined the influence of Eastern iconography - the sacred, with sadistic and sexual motifs - the profane. For him, abstract art was an expression of the absolute. These types of compositions – especially those that date back to the ‘50s, are among the most highly valued by critics and art collectors.
Tadeusz Kantor - Group of Works
“Ludzie atrapy” (People-Dummies) from “Théâtre informel”, 1961
“Pewnego dnia żołdak napoleoński z obrazu Goyi wtargnął do mego pokoju” (One day a Napoleonic soldier from Goya's painting burst into my room), 1988
Tadeusz Kantor's works are an outstanding collection of a cross-cutting character, an excellent representation of the various periods of the work of this world-famous artist. Kantor is a total and timeless artist, an original persona of the underground and experimental theatre, an undisputed reformer and animator of cultural life in Poland, which was reborn after the war. Among Polish artists, it was Kantor was most attuned to the pulse of artistic life in Western Europe and the United States. He believed in progress and was constantly looking for new, hitherto unused forms of artistic expression. Therefore, each of the artist’s foreign journeys brought new Western directions and trends to Poland. The appearance on the art market of this outstanding group of works will be an especially important event for collectors.
Loris Gréaud “Nothing is true everything is permitted”, 2007
A four-part installation from 2007. Its integral part is a series of 26 graphics depicting stellar constellations with a cartographic grid applied to them, a sculpture in the form of an unfolded Dymaxion Map – inspired by the new formula of the globe created by the inventor Buckminster Fuller in 1943 (in the inventor's project the globe can be presented in the form of a regular icosahedron, in Gréaud's interpretation it takes the form of a dynamically developed geometric structure) and a video showing how a grain of corn turns into an irregular shaped popcorn. The boundaries of the installation are defined by a carpet, the "Dymaxion Carpet". Its black and white, geometric pattern also refers to the work of Fuller, who became famous, among other things, for constructing the geodesic dome – a polyhedron reproducing the surface of the sphere.
Works by French conceptual artist Loris Gréaud include installations, films and architecture. He experiments in the field of many different media, in which he attempts to give a tangible form to such hard-to-grasp concepts such as light waves or time. The artist received an extensive education. He studied music, film making and fine arts, amongst others at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris, the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse and the École nationale supérieure d'arts de Cergy-Pontoise. An important determinant of Gréaud's work, which is difficult to encapsulate in simple definitions, is the fusion of music, visual arts and quantum mechanics.
Vanessa Beecroft, „VB43.019”, 2000
Vanessa Beecroft is an American performance artist and creator of photography, video art, sculpture and painting. In her work, recognised by art critics around the world, Beecroft touches on issues such as social roles, the dynamics of relationships, the body, gender and race. The work, which will be auctioned, belongs to a project contoured since 1993, hailed as one of the most ground-breaking in the history of modern art. Part of "VB43" is a recording of a performance that took place at London's Gagosian Gallery in 2000. The artist invited 23 red-haired models to participate, who she captured in the gallery space. The work, which chooses a living, naked female body as its “material”, is designed to provoke questions about politics, identity and the complexity of the relationship between the viewer, the model and the context. Other parts of this series have been realised, amongst others, at the Venice Biennale, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the MCA in Australia, the Vienna Kunsthalle and the Biennale in São Paulo.
Michael Najjar “Bionic Angel”, 2007
The title work “Bionic Angel” presents a portrait of a young woman superimposed with a visualization of the nerve fibres of her brain. Innovative DIT technology was used to create the photograph, which scanned the woman's brain, and then the collected measurement data was calculated and translated into an image. In this way, the artist combines the external image of a person with her internal, neural personality.
Michael Najjar's work provides a critical look at the ever-evolving technologies that are shaping and drastically changing the world in the twenty-first century. The artist uses various genres of photography and draws on a wide range of modern technologies, which he refers to as hybrid photography. Combining art, science and technology in his artistic practice, Najjar outlines visions of future social structures influenced by the latest technologies. His works provoke questions about the relationship between reality and its representation in the created image as well as its significance in an increasingly virtualised world.
Sebastian Hempel, „Fatboy Slim”, 2006
Sebastian Hempel is a German artist who creates works intricately connected to science and technology. He places motion sensors within his installations, thanks to which the viewer can interact with the work. Thus, the viewer's body becomes part of the installation, which, as in the case of "Fatboy Slim" from 2006, changes before our eyes. The minimalist, kinetic installation interprets movement into the language of science. Due to the fact that movement is neither an external or internal feature of the work but is only comes about as a result of the interaction between the work and the viewer, the final effect is beyond the artist’s control.
