Witold PA£KA (1928-2013), "Nude in front of the mirror".

oil, canvas, 62 x 73 cm, signed p.d.: Palka W. Painting reproduced in the catalog: "Impressions on the Past. Witold Palka", ZPAP Sukiennice Gallery - Cracow, 2005, Polish Museum - Rapperswil, 2005, and in the catalog: "Witold Palka. Painting," Museum of the History of Katowice, 2018, il. 38. painting from the collection of Witold Palka's family.

Painter, student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in the studios of E. Eibisch, J. Fedkowicz and W. Taranczewski, diploma in 1953. Long-time chairman of the Artistic Council of Painters in the District Board of the ZPAP in Katowice, member of the "Arkat" group. He lived and worked in Katowice. The artist was an accomplished colorist, a recurring motif in his paintings are theater interiors, concert halls, cafes, meeting places of refined, elegant women. Religious painting has always occupied an important place in his work, in 1966-1980 he worked with the Commission of Sacred Art and Architecture of the Diocese of Katowice, the artist is the author of painting decorations in many churches. In 1994, the Diocesan Museum in Katowice prepared an exhibition of his watercolor works. In an interview with the Sunday Visitor, the artist states: "Watercolor is a lot of work. There is no question of a sketch here. You have to have a ready-made concept, be determined. Oil I can correct for a long time, watercolor I can't, because I get tired of paper, color, and I walk around irritated because something doesn't come out...". (Source: gosc.pl, Joanna Bątkiewicz-Brożek "I am looking for silence", interview with Witold Palka on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his creative work, 6.6.2013).