Biography

Grażyna Lubaszka (1959-2012). Grażyna Lubaszka was born in 1959 in Słupsk. She studied at the Institute of Art Education of the Higher School of Art in Częstochowa, where she obtained a diploma in graphics in 1985 from Professor Ryszard Osadczy. She made her debut with an individual exhibition "Erotaż" at the BWA in Częstochowa in 1989. She had several exhibitions in the country and in the Netherlands, France, Japan and the Czech Republic. Sometimes she exhibited with her husband, also a painter, Tomasz Lubaszka. She has been a member of ZPAP since 2001. She participated in open-air painting and open-air exhibitions. She dealt with painting, drawing and graphics, as well as book illustration. Her work is characterized by a semi-fairy-tale fantasy. Her constant motifs are the figures of the Angel and the Devil, who embody the moralizing content of her art. She lived and worked in Herby near Częstochowa. The artist died tragically in August 2012. She was buried in the cemetery in Herby near Częstochowa.

Picture from 1998 In her typical mystical and genre scene, the artist showed a wandering bearded violinist wearing a hat and a long coat. This fairy-tale character has been subjected to a slightly humorous and caricatured styling (stick legs and funny shoes), half mystical and half realistic, set in a contrasting harsh, frosty winter scenery. In the background you can see a small church and houses. This painting is of a very high level of painting and craftsmanship. Every detail is painted delicately, intricately with great attention to detail. Even the second plane, which is often neglected by painters, was painted here with great care. When creating this work, the artist used, among other things, a difficult and demanding glazing technique using the structure of the canvas.

Here is what art critic Robert Sękiewicz and artist Janusz Karbowniczek wrote about Grażyna Lubaszka's work:

"Grażyna Lubaszka's paintings evoke associations with genre painting - from about three centuries ago. The playfulness of those scenes or didacticism is replaced by nostalgia. Realism transforms into surrealism. Due to the interpenetration of these styles, the contemporary artist paints her new paintings, the landscape of her own sensitivity and shares her sense of humor. It may happen - in this land of castles and chicken-foot cottages, that the facial features of the Little Princess with a flower (wearing a purple robe) can be found in the portrait of a girl in a beach hat. The Good Angel allows you to build a nest on your shoulders and in this way, will be "inscribed" into the landscape of the meadow and the house. The painting material of the mystical and genre scenes is delicate. The artist uses uniformly thinly applied paint and glazes, from under which the structure of the canvas emerges. This unpainted thread - a line of canvas, is almost a drawing trace, a handwriting in the works of Grażyna Lubaszka. A more varied texture and dynamic composition can be found in her portrait series. The background of the figures is usually abstract, built with clear brush strokes, with a dense texture, the rough lights of light tones are embedded in ocher glazes. Such masterful workshop skills highly qualify her painting explorations.

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“In Grażyna Lubaszko's works you can see traces and fascinations with the Young Poland period, the theatrical symbolism of Jacek Malczewski, the children's crusades of Wojtkiewicz, but also noticeable echoes of much earlier genre painting. These relationships go beyond the search for similar atmospheres in the image, and certain parallels of scenes and attributes appearing in them are only a reminder of the fascination with good patterns. Everything else is an individual attempt to capture one's own state of the world, painstakingly constructed, half-dream, half-wakefulness, creating the author's "human commentary"
Oil on plywood. The painting is framed in a very nice gold frame with a linen passe-partout. Dimensions inside the frame: 25x19 cm. Dimensions including frame: 36.5x30.5 cm. Signed "G. LUBASZKA '98". Condition of the painting and frame: very good. On the back there is an inscription: "Winter violinist, Grażyna Lubaszka 1998".
Grażyna Lubaszka unfortunately died prematurely and tragically at the age of 53, at the peak of her painting career, committing suicide and leaving a great void. Most of her works are in the hands of private collectors and enthusiasts of her enormous talent and artistic sensitivity. Her oil paintings appear very occasionally on the antique market, usually selling for several thousand zlotys.