Danuta Leszczyńska-Kluza

Danuta Leszczyńska-Kluza (1926, Przemyśl - 2019, Kraków) was a painter, draughtswoman and graphic artist and an outstanding figure of the Kraków artistic milieu. In 1946-1952 she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, under Zygmunt Radnicki among others, defending her diploma in the studio of Zbigniew Pronaszko. From the very beginning her work was autonomous and unconnected with fashionable trends.

Leszczyńska-Kluza practised painting (oil, gouache), drawing (ink) and graphic art (etching) on the border of figuration and abstraction, often combining both directions. Her compositions, rich in symbols, allusions and metaphors, are sometimes composed of surrealistically juxtaposed, seemingly random figures and objects; she was inspired by mythology and literature, taking up the themes of human existence and the ultimate matters. Successive cycles came into being: „The Hermitage” (1959-61), „Gardens” (1963-70), „Events” (1971), „Universe” (1975-83) and „Past-Future” (2006-07).

Active as an exhibitor from 1952, she took part in the famous generational exhibition „Arsenał” (1955) and represented Poland at the São Paulo Art Biennale (1969) and in Venice (1984). She presented her oeuvre at over 50 solo exhibitions, and her works are in 35 museum collections around the world - including the Albertina in Vienna, the Library of Congress in Washington, the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, the Národní galerie in Prague and the National Museums in Kraków, Warsaw and Wrocław. A retrospective exhibition of her painting and graphic art was held at the National Museum in Kraków in 2005.