zincotype (created in the 1970s based on the original linocut), paper 30 x 20 cm (inside dimensions of the passe-partout measuring 40 x 30 cm).
Józef Gielniak—in 1945–46, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Valenciennes. He arrived in Poland in 1950 with the intention of preparing for a career in diplomacy. A sudden bout of tuberculosis thwarted these plans, as well as his next ambition—to study at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.Gielniak spent nearly his entire creative life at the Bukowiec tuberculosis sanatorium near Kowary, where he also took a job as an archivist. Starting in 1956, he studied privately under the renowned printmaker Professor Stanisław Dawski at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Wrocław. He created almost exclusively linocuts; occasionally, when his health permitted, he also produced mezzotints. He left behind a total of just 68 works, including 15 bookplates. Despite this modest body of work, he is considered one of the most outstanding contemporary Polish printmakers.
