In the 1950s, Roman Artymowski painted post-impressionist figures and landscapes. Over time, a clear geometric construction emerged in his works, and in the 1970s, he made the sphere the main motif of his paintings. Limiting the variety of compositional solutions to one let him focus the viewer’s attention on colour solutions — the sophisticated colour scheme broke through the schematic geometric composition, bringing associations of an exotic landscape depicting the Sun over a horizon. Its intensity was a result of experiencing the flat desert landscapes of Iraq — the artist visited the country regularly from 1959 on, and taught graphics in Baghdad. In addition to the real world reference, the spheres also have a symbolic meaning — they are a record of hope, but also of a sense of danger. Art critic and historian Bożena Kowalska wrote that ‘through the reduction of means and the geometrisation, the paintings gained . . . monumentalism, through the rigour of order — purity and harmony, through the variety of light and colour solutions — dynamism and tension or quietude. Sometimes all these means, despite being so economical, can evoke the thought of the mystery of being, the cosmos, and the infinite’.

Ewa Skolimowska, translated by Paulina Bożek