Born: January 7, 1923, Krakow, Poland
Born: February 21, 2011, Krakow, Poland
Early days. His mother was Polish, his father- a Lemek (Ukrainian). In 1940 he went to the Staatliche Kunstgewerbeschule Krakau. During the period 1942-1943 when he was a novice, he studied „ikonopisarstwo” (writing of icons) in the uniate Lawra of St. Jan Chrzciciel in Uniow near Lwow (presently Lviv, Ukraine). After returning to Krakow he was connected to the future Krakow Group. During 1945-197 he studied in the Akademia Sztuk Pięknych (Academy of Fine Arts) in Krakow with profesor Eugeniusz Eibisch.
Career. He was intitially an aide to Tadeusz Kantor and was influenced by Tadeusz Brzozowski. His first exhibition was in 1955 followed by representing Poland at a biennale in Venice, Italy (1956) and at Sao Paolo, Brazil (1959). In 1976 he got a professorship at the Akademia Sztuk Pieknych in Krakow and a membership at the Polska Akadema Umiejetnosci, Grupa Mlodych and Grupa Krakowska.He was well known for his religious compositions (monumental wall paintings, iconostases, polychromies) in the Orthodox Churches in Kraków, Białystok and Jelenia Góra, the Greek Catholic Churches of Jan Klimak in Warsaw, Grodek, Hajnowka and Ketrzyn, the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross at Wesoła, the church of Holy Spirit in Tychy, the Franciscan Church in the Azory district of Kraków, and the Greek Catholic Church in Lourdes, France. His iconostases decorate the Greek Catholic Cathedral in Wroclaw and Greek Catholic chapels in Gorow Ilawiecki, Lublin, Wegorzew and in the building of cathedral chapter in Krakow. Nowosielski designed and erected the Church of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Biały Bór. He also painted portraits, landscapes, still life, and abstract pictures. His works are found in Polish museums and also in private collections in Canada, the USA, and Germany. In 1996, together with his wife Zofia, they fouded the Foundation Nowosielski whose goal is to support noted achievements of Polish culture by awarding of stipends and annual prizes. Authored theoretical works about icons and painting.
Awards, prizes. 1973: The prize of the First Grade by the Minister of Culture and Art; 1993: Commandors Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta; a prize by the Polish cultural foundation Wielka Fundacja Kultury; 1998: the Great Cross of the Order of Polona Restituta; 2000: an honorary doctorate from the Jagiellonian University; a prize TOTUS in the category “Achievements of Christian Culture ; 2008: Gold Medal “Well-deserved to the Culture Gloria Artis” ; 2012 A Jerzy Nowosielski room was opened in Presidental Palace in Warsaw with 10 of Nowosielski’s works.
Based on an article that appears in Wikipedia (with modifications):
Wikipedia
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
Other sources:
Wikipedia in Polish
Galeria AgraArt includes photos of many of his paintings
Publlshed on 5/25/15
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Prominent Poles