Stani Nitkowski (1949-2001)

Femme au goitre 1985 Oil on panel signed lower right, titled and dated "fév. 85" on back 35 x 28.4 cm Condition report: Framed René Nitkowski, his official name, was born in 1949 to a Polish-born miner and a French seamstress. While two of his siblings died at an early age, he was struck down by myopathy in his teens - a progressive degeneration of muscle cells - and found himself in a wheelchair at the age of 23. It was then that he began to paint. Self-taught, he transcribed his passions onto canvas or paper in a style that blends poetry, humor and tragic feelings. Seduced by Art Brut, notably the works of his mentors Robert Tatin and Jean Dubuffet, he decided to abandon abstraction in the 1970s. He was then supported by two influential Parisian gallery owners: first Cérès Franco, then Roland Vanuxem. As his palette began to darken, he held a series of exhibitions in France and abroad, in New York, Montreal and Lausanne. In 1993, the Musée de Niort devoted a retrospective exhibition to his work. Since his death in 2001, several galleries and institutions have paid tribute to his work, including the Halle Saint-Pierre in Paris. "Deep down, I'm an expressionist painter, I'm of Slavic origin, my great loves are Van Gogh, Goya, Maryan." Stani Nitkowski