Jan Tarasin (Poland 1926‑2009)

Lots to be sold at Uppsala Auktionskammare’s Important Sale: Modern & Contemporary 9–12 November 2021

The Polish painter, graphic designer, drawer, photographer and author Jan Tarasin was born on September 11, 1926 in Kalisz, Poland. He studied in Kraków at the Academy of Fine Arts and made his debut in 1948, at the first Exhibition of Modern Art in Kraków. 

Although considered to be an abstract painter, Tarasin never fully resigned from figurative art. In his paintings from the 1950s we see mostly still lives, composed from ordinary objects. In the later part of the decade, his paintings gained their own specific features and became more abstract. The artist arranged the elements, or objects, to become an imaginary, allusive space. His interest of objects appeared early on in his career. By simplifying and reducing them he formed a system, used to symbolise people or items in his paintings. They became only traces of shapes taken from the surrounding reality, presented as small dots, scratches or fields of colours. Jan Tarasin was interested in searching for mechanism, through which nature projects and complicates phenomena, concentrates and diffuses them. Also, he was interested in the relation between logic, determination, imperative laws and chance. His captivating paintings build arrangements out of objects and there is always a story behind them.

In the late 1960s, Tarasin’s work changed and he began to include small objects immersed in hot lava in his paintings. These relief collage paintings only occupied him for a short time and he quickly returned to flat paintings. Jan Tarasin was once quoted: “I am interested in a certain type of objectiveness leading to the abstract.” His symbols appear in different shapes; ovals, arches, squares, crosses, circles, dots and lines, due to the artist’s belief that the world is a collection of diffusing and dynamic arrangements. In the 1970s, he used mostly a white surface to create silhouettes or contours. This method of contrasting light and dark colours against each other can be seen also in Tarasin’s later work. Throughout his life, he continued to examine the meaning of symbols and signs, sometimes making them bigger and brighter only to return to the use of thick paint and a background overlapping the objects. 

Over the years, Tarasin’s work have been exhibited at numerous important galleries and museums worldwide. His works are today held in some of the most prominent institutions and are highly sought after among collectors. Included in this sale are several works from Tarasin’s 1980s production and an early work from 1964. ■

View all lots by Jan Tarasin »
Back to catalogue »