Oil on board, framed. Featuring a landscape scene featuring orthodox church. Signed NIKIFOR SETO KOSCIAT 120J. Attributed to Nikifor Krynicki (Polish-Ukrainian, 1895-1968). 28.5 x 18.5 cm (11.2 x 7.3 inches). Frame size: 40 x 30 cm (15.8 x 11.8 inches). PROVENANCE: Southern Ontario estate

Nikifor (1895-1968) was a Lemko naïve painter. Nikifor 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. Little is known of Nikifor's private life. For most of his life, he lived alone in extreme poverty in Krynica, and was considered mentally challenged. He had difficulties speaking and was almost illiterate. It was not until his later years that it was discovered his tongue was in fact attached to his palate, causing his speech to be unintelligible to most people. In 1930, his first paintings were discovered by Ukrainian painter Roman Turyn, who brought them to Paris. That gained Nikifor some fame among the Kapists, a group of young painters formed around Józef Pankiewicz. This did not, however, change his fate, as his art was still underestimated in Poland. In 1938 Jerzy Wolff did publish an enthusiastic review of Nikifor's art in the (Polish) Arkady monthly, and purchased some of his works. However, the advent of World War II prevented Nikifor from gaining much popular notoriety. In 1947 Nikifor was deported during Operation Vistula, where the Lemko and Ukrainian minorities were forcibly resettled by the communist puppet regime to northern and western Poland, away from their ancestral homelands in the southeast. Three times he attempted to return and authorities allowed him to stay the third time. In 1960 Nikifor met Marian Wlosinski, a painter living in Krynica. The latter decided to devote his career and life to helping the elderly artist and promoted his works in the major galleries of Poland. This led to a large and successful exhibition in Warsaw at the Zacheta Art Gallery. On 10 October 1968, Nikifor died in a public nursing home in the village of Folusz. After his death, most of his works were preserved by Wlosinski and donated to various museums. The most complete collection is stored in the Regional Museum of Nowy Sacz and the Krynica-based museum of Nikifor. During his early life Nikifor received care at a local hospital in Krynica and paid for the services with his paintings. As he mixed his paints with spit and the hospital feared he had Tuberculosis, many of the paintings were destroyed.

All lots that do not carry established documented provenance nor any past record of auction history record are described in the catalog as attributed .

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Signed [Artist Name] : In cases in which the signature is legible in the lot, this work is described as-is with no attributions given.

By [Artist Name] : The work is by the artist.

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In the manner of [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

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American, 19th century : This work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).