A naked woman with alabaster skin draws my gaze with her large, beautiful, impenetrable eyes. Is she sad, melancholic or simply deep in thought? I imagine that if I were to take her slim hand, it would feel cool in mine. Sometimes she is accompanied by an equally beautiful and aloof naked man, at other times she is visited by figures from paintings by early masters (Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini, Hieronymus Bosch’s conjurer and protagonists of Piero della Francesca and Cranach). Renaissance landscapes stretch out behind her, and plants painted with the precision of a naturalist grow at her feet. She is accompanied by attributes of science – a globe, academic volumes, a microscope, Mendeleev’s periodic table – as well as musical instruments and gardening tools. Angels soar above her, an upholstered train seat is fading slowly, her bath water is growing cold… The author of this world, Anna Güntner, shuffles scientific and poetic elements with a steady, practiced hand. Instead of the naked beauty, some of her paintings feature an unnaturally large sewing machine, microscope or coffee mill set against a gentle landscape recalling Raphael’s settings for his madonnas. The reality is mysterious, theatrical, elevated, at times even threatening. The artist’s perfect technique and unbridled imagination bring to mind works by René Magritte. But Güntner needs no comparisons – the world of her painting is its own captivating universe, drawing us in.
The artist was born in Poznań in 1933 and studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków under Zbigniew Pronaszko. While studying in Paris (1964) and New York (1979) she explored local museums, expanding her understanding and erudition and honing the poeticism of her paintings. Those study periods also brought her to the attention of art critics beyond Poland, and she exhibited extensively abroad at collective exhibitions in Paris, Buenos Aires, Caracas and Stockholm. She also held individual exhibitions in Los Angeles, the BWA Pavilion in Kraków (now Bunkier Sztuki), Zachęta in Warsaw, Sveagalleriet in Stockholm and the Bodley Gallery in New York. Her paintings can be found in museum collections in Poland and abroad, including the US, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. Just two individual exhibitions of her artworks have been held since she stopped painting in the early 1980s. The most recent was presented at Kraków’s Artemis Gallery run by Janina Górka-Czarnecka. Anna Güntner passed away in 2013.
On 10 December 2021 we will have the first opportunity in 16 years to explore Güntner’s paintings at the launch of the exhibition once again prepared by the Artemis Gallery (artemis.art.pl) and presented at the Nowa Huta Cultural Centre. It will be a perfect chance to fully immerse ourselves in her world by exploring over 40 of her paintings.
In Janusz Morgenstern’s film Jowita (made in 1967 based on Stanisław Dygat’s novel Disneyland), the main protagonist, played by Daniel Olbrychski, visits a vernissage of Güntner’s exhibition in Kraków. He stops behind an elderly man who is staring intently at the naked woman in the painting. Olbrychski winks, as though to say, “Is this man an art critic or is he just longing for the touch of a beautiful, young woman?” The film is filled with erotic tension, but can the same be said of Güntner’s paintings? Or perhaps the idea is that her protagonists allow us to reflect in their eyes, see our dreams and desires, take a deep inner journey? (Agnieszka Drotkiewicz)
The text was published in the 4/2021 issue of the “Kraków Culture” quarterly
Agnieszka Drotkiewicz
Author of novels, interviews, essays and collections of discussions on topics such as art, literature, social issues, music and cookery. Jointly with Ewa Kuryluk, winner of the Warsaw Literary Premiere. She works with the “Przekrój” and “Kukbuk” quarterlies, and she has been published in “Wysokie Obcasy”, “Ruch Muzyczny” and dwutygodnik.com.
Photo by Antonina Samecka, Risk made in Warsaw
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Anna Güntner. Painting
9.12.2021 – 16.01.2022
Nowa Huta Cultural Centre, Biała Gallery
