Mikołaj Kochanowski (1916-1987), RELIEF ON THE AXIS, 1974

acrylic, collage/canvas, 66 x 57 cm
signed, dated and described on the back: '"RELIEF ON OSI" | MIKOŁAJ
KOCHANOWSKI | 1974 | 66 X 57'
on the back a sticker with the description of the work

The transformations in the work of Mikołaj Kochanowski can be traced on the basis of his individual exhibitions, which each time served the artist as a summary of his formal search and accentuation of new solutions. In 1960 Piotr Skrzynecki wrote: "At the Visual Artists on Lobzowska Street you can see a group exhibition of works by Mikołaj Kochanowski. From the old atmospheric realistic landscapes to the latest atmospheric abstract compositions. It is very amusing to watch the painter's gradual detachment from the strict dependence resulting from landscape, still life to free abstract compositional arrangements, as if gradually derived from the viewed reality. [...] Kochanowski is truly an astonishing, excellent colorist. [...] Skilfully and discreetly the artist uses various thins, he knows how to extinguish and ignite color; and if he introduces texture into the surface of these canvases - it serves only the color stain, it never acts independently" (P. Skrzynecki, Wystawa Kochanowskiego, "Echo Krakowa" 1960, no. 254). A publicist for "Sztandar Młodych" characterized Kochanowski's next landmark exhibition, held in 1967: "Here in Krzysztofory, after Jaremianka, Mikołaj Kochanowski exhibits his works. [...] what [the artist] has hung in the basement on Szczepańska Street - this is the result of work in the last year. So far, his painting has been dominated by colorism, but the current exhibition indicates an evolution that is somewhat surprising, but also ambitious. Well, nails, scraps of sheet metal, metal filings wander into the painting, color remains, of course, but in the background. [...] these objects placed in the painting always have a geometric shape, the construction of the arrangements is conscious, logical, aiming to evoke emotions in the viewer" (R.J. Pyrczak, Encounters, "Sztandar Młodych" 1967, no. 57). On the other hand, a reviewer for "Gazeta Krakowska" noted that the mentioned exhibition "is above all a turn towards replacing the illusory nature of color matter with a SIGN - an object chosen directly from nature i.e. acting concretely" (L. Walicki, Kochanowski in Krzysztofory, "Gazeta Krakowska" 1967, no. 20). The presented painting belongs to the last period of Kochanowski's work, a mature and highly individualized period. The works of the 1970s are fully abstract, characterized by a maximum reduction in the number of elements used in the composition and its geometrization. The work entitled "Relief on an Axis" indicates the rejection of any association with the object world. The introduction of relief transforms the image into a self-contained object. Convex elements accentuate the vertical axis of symmetry. However, it should be noted that Kochanowski remained a colorist and used color skillfully in the construction of the composition. The silver appliqué placed in the center of the painting, with a medallion with an undulating surface, is an element that introduces variety and movement. This organic form breaks the rigidity of geometry.