Exhibitions

Iwona Staroszczyk

Limited Edition Art Gallery

I met Professor Antoni Janusz Pastwa during the exhibition of his sculptures „Animals and People. Common sun, common rain” at the Museum of Literature in Warsaw in 2019. Already then, we were having the frst, tentative conversations about our potential cooperation. Unfortunately, the pandemic ruined the plans.

When life returned to normal, the Professor made his presence felt again with a famous exhibition at the Opera Gallery of the Grand Theater – National Opera in 2020. It was one of those exhibitions that are deeply remembered. At that time, our next meeting was arranged by a mutual friend, Waldemar Górnicki. He believed that something special would be born from this tandem.

I was wondering for a very long time what could I do for this class of sculptor to go beyond the confnes of simply basking in his splendor? Antoni Janusz Pastwa is the co-author of Apollo’s Quadriga at the front of the Grand Theater – National Opera and many other famous sculptural works, the winner of many awards and distinctions, including a two-time winner of the Norwid Award (2002 and 2018) and a winner of the Gold Medal for „Merit to Culture Gloria Artis” (2019). He has had exhibitions and has works in the collections of the most important cultural and art institutions in Poland and abroad. He is a member of the Program Council of the Center of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko and has raised many outstanding sculptors.

At the same time, Professor Pastwa is an extremely modest person, he has never cared about the fame and honors that are so due to him. This is where the idea of creating an exhibition accompanying the 20th anniversary of the Warsaw Art Fair was born. This important anniversary of a key fair in Poland, visited by 10 000 people each year: collectors, art lovers and art dealers, is a good reason to widely present the work of a sculptor considered one of the most important in the history of Polish art.

My proposal to organize the Professor Antoni Janusz Pastwa’s exhibition on the occasion of 20th Anniversary of the Warsaw Art Fair was met with understanding and enthusiasm by the Fair Program Director, Mrs. Kama Zboralska, and the Organizers: Mr. Piotr Lengiewicz and Mrs. Katarzyna Marciniak from the Rempex auction house, to whom I would like to thank.

My gratitude also goes to Mr. Marcin Fedisz from the Opera Gallery of the Grand Theater – National Opera, for his invaluable help in creating the exhibition.

Professor Pastwa searches for the right form for a long time, his sculptures are created slowly. As a result, there are not many of them. Each of them is deeply thought out and not accidental, because thanks to the strength of character, the artist never wanted to respond to market expectations. The „Form speaks” exhibition is cross-sectional. It presents objects carved in various materials at several stages of the artist’s creation. The exhibition is a rare opportunity to purchase the Professor’s sculptures for the private art collections. Thanks to it, the art market has a chance to gain a lot