:: Majka -her life and work

“In essence, a painting’s function is merely to aid in contemplation, the formation of experiences, and to engage the viewer in the process of co-creation. Art is oneness with the world, the exploration of the various facets of the world, and the continual rediscovery of the meaning of life across time. It is also extraordinary evidence of the self’s meeting with another.”

From the work journal of Majka Kwiatowska




" The artist creates characteristic chromatic variations using generally unsaturated colours accompanied by glacis effects, as well as a sort of transparency evoking an inner spiritual world.   Her transitions of tonal and chromatic values in turn evoke a reverie, and strangely, a taut state of tension whose effect it is to maintain alertness in the viewer.   Thus, a constant quality of freshness arises in the work: the paintings seem to forever renew themselves facing our gaze. This art of painting may not only be contemplated within the frame established by a certain American abstract expressionism tradition, but also in the context of the legacy of some water-colours by Turner, near monochromes of   picturesque visions of nature - all of which factors inscribe Kwiatowska's work within the scope of a romantic sensibility.   Her sensitivity moreover possesses a peculiar feminine receptive quality which singularly belongs to Kwiatowska's work. "

André Seleanu, La Vie des Arts , 2006, n°201


" The work of Majka Kwiatowska is part of an art movement that encompasses the most economical and inwardly-focused type of abstract art. One notices its resemblance to the work of Mark Rothko, the distinguished mid-twentieth-century American artist. Her painting makes use of vast, nearly monochrome surfaces, where color is infused with light and layers of paint give the subtle impression of depth. While the paintings - muted and reflective - require the viewer's full attention, in return they offer a multitude of interpretations that reflect the state of one's own mind. Though outwardly modest, these works gradually reveal their inner riches."

Magdalena Hniedziewicz (art critic and historian)


Majka Kwiatowska graduated from the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in Poland, where she studied painting, sculpting and the graphic arts. As the recipient of a special grant, she also audited at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts.

The conclusion of her studies coincided with the onset of events that were to transform the political landscape of Eastern Europe. While dedicating herself to painting, Majka simultaneously was highly active in the Young Artists' Circle, a part of the Polish Association of Visual Artists, and later in the Painting Division of the Association. In 1981, following the Polish People's Republic's authorities' declaration of marshal law and dissolution of the Association of Visual Artists in response to the birth of the Solidarity movement, Ms. Kwiatowska took part in the movement for independent art, organizing underground exhibitions and gatherings for artists involved in opposing the government. She was also engaged in a movement that brought social aid to members of the visual arts community.

As an artist, she took part in over thirty underground exhibits - individual and collective, private and sponsored by the Catholic Church of Poland, which played a critical role in supporting the Polish independent art movement. Highly respected in artistic circles during those tumultuous times, she was hired as an assistant to Prof. _ukasz Korolkiewicz in his painting studio at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. Following the reinstitution of the Polish Association of Visual Artists, she served one term as the vice-president of its Warsaw chapter. Earlier, still during Marshal Law, and despite the difficulties and limitations created by it, she was able to participate in several exhibitions abroad - notably in Germany, France and Canada (in Toronto and Montreal).

The paintings from this early period are permeated with the atmosphere of these difficult years. They also bear the traces of even earlier memories from Majka's youth, when in 1968, her involvement in the students' "March Revolt" led to her arrest and subsequent internment, which lasted several months. Rough and diffused, the gray that forms the texture of these paintings dominates here, but one can discern the blue, yellow and pink hues present deep within.

With time, her palette lightens up and the motions of her brush become inscribed on the surface of the canvas. While the predominantly firm borders of the painting constitute a frame which signifies a boundary, they do not restrict the painting's inner light or the subtle clarity of the colors. With great ease, they contain the painting's enormous strength and the psychological tension that arises. Muted strength and tension, subtlety and coarseness, boundaries and infinity, infuse this abstract work with magical powers.

Ms. Kwiatowska has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Polish Association of Visual Artists Golden Badge (1993) and the POLCUL Foundation Award (Australia, 1989). Her work can be found in the Polish National Library Collection in Warsaw, at the Department of Culture and the Arts of the Warsaw City Hall, as well as at the Museum of the Warsaw Archdiocese. In spite of Poland's isolation during the years of political upheaval, as well as Warsaw's peripheral geographic location, the works of Majka Kwiatowska have found their way out to the world and into private collections in Sweden, Germany, France, Belgium, Canada, the United States and Japan.