The year was 1980. Andrzej Dudziński was living with his wife Magda Dygat in New York. The news of the foundation of the Solidarity movement led by Lech Wałęsa spread beyond the Iron Curtain. The world loved it. Jerelle Kraus, the art director of TheNew York Times asked Andrzej to create an illustration for a story the newspaper was running on Wałęsa. 'It wasn't going well,' he later recalled. 'Magda cheered me on and criticised my work if she didn't like it. Finally, she told me to think about Wałęsa's roots, where he came from, why he ended up where he was, and what was the cause of his success.' That is how he came up with the portrait of Wałęsa made up of protesting crowds. Many of Andrzej's pieces came to life as a result of a similar process, becasue Andrzej and Magda were a special couple. They shared a life together: never detached from each other, always shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand. We are mounting this exhibition together with Magda. Andrzej is unfortunately not here.
Zazdrośnik, 1991, oil pastel and acrylic paint on paper, 70 × 70 cm
