Epifaniusz Drowniak, Nikifor Krynicki

Place: Krynica

Born: 1895

Death: 1968

Biography:

Nikifor (21 May 1895, Krynica, Austria-Hungary – 10 October 1968, Folusz, Poland), also known as Nikifor Krynicki, born as Epifaniy Drovnyak (Epifaniusz Drowniak)1, was a Lemko naïve painter. He painted over 40,000 pictures – on sheets of paper, pages of notebooks, cigarette cartons, and even on scraps of paper glued together. The topics of his art include self-portraits and panoramas of Krynica, with its spas and Orthodox and Catholic churches. Underestimated for most of his life, in his late days he became famous as a naïve painter. He had inherited a speech impediment, was hard of hearing, and struggled with basic literacy skills—reading and writing were not easy tasks for him. But all along, Nikifor aspired to be a painter. His artistic journey started in school and became his full-time pursuit after his mother, the sole person close to him, passed away. Although he started as early as age 13, Nikifor struggled to make a living off painting because it was not that profitable. To better sell his works, he chose to display them in prominent city locations. He would also carry a “begging letter” with him, offering his pictures in exchange for food, money, and supplies. Passersby often mistook him for an eccentric beggar, a label he would transition out of later in his life.