Tomasz Kręcicki
Value#72
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
3/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
7/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
9/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
3/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
3/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
- Pricing
- Note
- Limited secondary market data; artist primarily gallery-represented with pricing controlled through primary market
- Temporal Context
- Historical range based on multiple auction results since 2017; highest result achieved in 2024
- Auction Range USD
- $848 - $6,251
- Liquidity
- Assessment
- Low current liquidity
- Explanation
- Limited secondary market presence; primarily primary market sales through galleries. Auction results indicate emerging collector base primarily in Poland and Central Europe.
- Comparables
- Positioning
- Emerging artist with rapid institutional validation; comparable trajectory to Central/Eastern European painters gaining Western gallery representation
- Peer Artists
- Emerging Polish painters with international gallery representationFigurative painters exploring scale and absurdism
- Collector Base
- Collector Base
- Regional Polish collectors transitioning to international institutional and private collectors
- Primary Markets
- PolandGermanySouth KoreaChina
- Emerging Markets
- United KingdomUnited States (via gallery representation)
- Primary Market
- Note
- Gallery representation established 2023; pricing not publicly disclosed, indicating gallery-controlled primary market strategy
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Availability
- Works currently available through Esther Schipper
- Typical Sizes
- Small works (27 x 38 cm) to monumental (240 x 96 cm, 200 x 200 cm)
- Pricing Structure
- Price on request/request price & availability
- Auction History
- Date
- 2024
- Work
- Polowanie, 2017
- Location
- Sopot, Poland
- Market Depth
- Very limited - emerging secondary market
- Annual Volume
- Estimated under 10 lots annually
- Auction House
- Sopocki Auction House
- Highest Price
- $6,251 USD
- Recent Activity
- 2024 saw auction record established
- Market Trajectory
- Direction
- Strong upward momentum
- Indicators
- Major gallery representation acquired 2023 (Esther Schipper)Multiple solo exhibitions 2024-2025 in Berlin and SeoulFirst institutional solo exhibition in Asia (Longlati Foundation, Shanghai, 2024)Auction record doubled in recent yearFrieze London 2023 participation
- Total Lots Offered
- 20+ artworks at auction (multiple times since 2017)
Institutional Presence
MOCAK - Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków
Kraków, PolandNational Museum
Gdańsk, PolandLonglati Foundation
Shanghai, ChinaBY ART MATTERS
Hangzhou, ChinaBeiqiu Museum of Contemporary Art
Nanjing, ChinaSammlung Hildebrand
Leipzig, GermanyThe ING Polish Art Foundation
Warsaw, PolandmBank Art Collection
Warsaw, PolandGrey House Foundation
Kraków, Poland- Exhibitions
- Institutional Exhibitions
- Solo Institutional
- Dates
- April 2 - May 22, 2024
- Title
- Light as A Feather
- Venue
- Longlati Foundation
- Location
- Shanghai, China
- Significance
- First institutional solo exhibition in Asia; 18 new paintings
- Year
- 2020
- Title
- XXL
- Venue
- Muzeum Regionalne
- Location
- Stalowa Wola, Poland
- Year
- 2019
- Title
- Spirit level
- Venue
- Grey House Foundation
- Location
- Kraków, Poland
- Year
- 2019
- Title
- XXL
- Venue
- BWA Tarnów
- Location
- Tarnów, Poland
- Group Institutional
- Year
- 2022
- Title
- Potencja – Humoral Theory: Quattro Stagioni
- Venue
- Galeria Bielska BWA
- Location
- Bielsko-Biała, Poland
- Year
- 2021
- Title
- Potencja – Humoral Theory
- Venue
- BWA Zielona Góra
- Location
- Zielona Góra, Poland
- Year
- 2022
- Title
- A Season in Hell - 11th Curated Exhibition of Bielska Jesień 2022
- Venue
- Bielska Jesień
- Location
- Bielsko-Biała, Poland
- Year
- 2018
- Title
- New Perspectives. Leipzig meets Cracow
- Venue
- Spinnerei archiv massiv
- Location
- Leipzig, Germany
- Title
- Schulz. The Iron capital of the spirit
- Venue
- Muzeum Literatury
- Location
- Warsaw, Poland
- Note
- Prestigious Polish collector exhibition
- Title
- Kolekcja Wojciecha Fibaka - Nowe pokolenie
- Venue
- Multiple institutions
- Locations
- RadomToruń
- Title
- XY - New Generation Polish-Hungarian Painting
- Venue
- MODEM Center for Modern and Contemporary Arts
- Location
- Debrecen, Hungary
- Dates
- March 21 - June 29, 2025
- Title
- 10 Years G2 Kunsthalle
- Venue
- G2 Kunsthalle (Sammlung Hildebrand)
- Location
- Leipzig, Germany
- Museum Collections
- Institutional Validation Notes
- Strong regional institutional presence in Poland with expanding international validation. Notable acquisitions by Chinese institutions (Longlati Foundation, BY ART MATTERS, Beiqiu Museum) and German private collection (Sammlung Hildebrand). Significant corporate collections (ING Polish Art Foundation, mBank). Limited presence in Tier 1 Western museums but strong trajectory toward broader institutional recognition.
Career & Biography
- Career
- Biography Summary
- Tomasz Kręcicki is a Polish contemporary painter born in 1990 in Żary, Poland. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków in 2015, with an exchange year at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg. Based in Kraków's Old Town, Kręcicki has developed a distinctive practice focused on monumentally scaled paintings of everyday objects—hands performing mundane tasks, domestic items, and quotidian scenes rendered with absurdist and existential undertones. His work combines simplified forms with cinematic sensibility, drawing comparisons to David Lynch's atmospheres and Pop Art's engagement with scale (particularly Claes Oldenburg). Between 2016 and 2023, he co-founded the artist collective Potencja with fellow Academy graduates. His career has accelerated significantly since 2023 with representation by major international gallery Esther Schipper.
- Identity
- Awards
- Year
- 2015
- Award
- Third Prize at 42nd Bielsko Autumn Painting Biennial
- Residencies
Year Location Program 2018 Leipzig, Germany LIA Programme Residency, Spinnerei Leipzig 2018 Prague, Czech Republic MeetFactory Residency 2022 London, UK Fores Project Residency - Current Location
- Kraków, Poland
- Artist Collective
- Name
- Potencja
- Activities
- Organized exhibitions, created films (screenplay and music), published art zine Łałok
- Years Active
- 2016-2023
- Collaborators
- Karolina JabłońskaCyryl Polaczek
- Artistic Context
- Explores scale, absurdity, and existential themes through enlarged everyday objects. Described as creating 'cinematic' paintings with a Lynchian atmosphere mixed with B-movie horror aesthetics. Subject matter addresses contemporary politics and its repercussions on the individual.
Artistic Profile
- Style
- Contemporary figurative painting with absurdist and Pop Art influences
- Evolution
- Thematic Evolution
- Early Work
- 2011-2013: Night, Landscape, House, Cosmos series (per artist website)
- Mid Period
- 2015-2022: Development of signature enlarged object motifs; experimentation with scale and absurdism; Giallo series (2022) referencing Italian B-movies
- Recent Work
- 2023-present: Cinematic narrative sequences (Move series 2024-2025); focus on domestic transitions and existential themes; continued exploration of scale with increased conceptual complexity
- Influences
- Artistic
- Claes Oldenburg (Pop Art scale manipulation)David Lynch (atmospheric surrealism)B-movie horror aestheticsPolish contemporary painting traditionsVanitas still-life genreYasujiro Ozu (recent cinematic minimalism)Mike Kelley (noted in interviews)
- Cultural
- Contemporary Polish politicsEastern European post-communist experienceCinema and film languageEveryday domestic life
- Themes and Subjects
- Scale and perception: grotesque enlargement of everyday objects
- Bathos: mockery of earnestness through absurdity and wit
- Existential anxiety: everyday objects suggesting physical threats
- Contemporary politics and individual experience
- The artist's tools: hands, eyes, fingers as meta-painterly references
- Domestic life and quotidian activities
- Transition and displacement (recent 'Move' series addressing personal moves and refugee experiences)
- Monumentally enlarged hands and fingers performing mundane tasks
- Everyday domestic objects (household items, food, furniture)
- Simplified geometric forms and architectural elements
- Potted plants in various states (flourishing or withered)
- Quotidian activities rendered at exaggerated scale
- Movements and Periods
- Exhibition Strategies
- Beyond traditional wall-hung paintings; incorporates spatial installations (giant teacup at PIANA), props, and exhibition design. Creates miniature gallery models before installation. Uses exhibition architecture to enhance narrative and thematic content.
- Distinctive Characteristics
- Monumentally enlarged mundane objects creating uncanny familiarity
- Cinematic framing and narrative suggestion without explicit storytelling
- Simplified geometric forms within figurative contexts
- Strategic ambiguity: cryptic narratives inviting viewer interpretation
- Humor mixed with anxiety and foreboding
- Consistent exploration of artist's own tools (hands, eyes) as subject
- Techniques and Mediums
- Scale
- Ranges from small (27 x 38 cm) to monumental (240 x 96 cm, 200 x 200 cm); typically large-scale works
- Medium
- Primarily oil on canvas
- Palette
- Vibrant poster-like colors; fluorescent pinks, bold primaries, simplified color schemes
- Surface
- Graphic, poster-like finish; non-academic approach to paint handling
- Composition
- Cinematic framing with extreme close-ups; simplified forms; strategic use of negative space
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Catalogue Texts
- Exhibition catalogues for institutional shows
- Critical Themes
- Cinematic quality and narrative structureScale manipulation and Pop Art connections (compared to Claes Oldenburg)Lynchian atmosphere and B-movie aestheticsAbsurdism and existential undertonesRelationship between everyday objects and contemporary political anxietiesConnection to Polish painting traditions with international contemporary language
- Academic Recognition
- Third prize at major Polish painting biennial (2015)
- Art Historical Positioning
- Positioned within contemporary figurative painting with connections to Pop Art, Polish contemporary painting traditions, and cinematic visual language
- Critical Reception Summary
- Overwhelmingly positive critical reception emphasizing Kręcicki's unique visual language combining scale manipulation, cinematic sensibility, and existential content. Critics consistently highlight the 'cinematic quality' of his work, with references to David Lynch and B-movie aesthetics. International art publications (Ocula, ELEPHANT, Art Asia Pacific) provide significant coverage, indicating growing international critical interest. Comparisons to Claes Oldenburg suggest art historical positioning within Pop Art traditions of scale manipulation, while maintaining distinct Polish contemporary identity.
- Publications and Media
- Major Publications
Date Article Publication Type June 2025 Tomasz Kręcicki at Stereo, Warsaw Art Viewer Exhibition review October 2023 Frieze London 2023: Six Paintings to Spend Time With Ocula — — — Ocula Multiple articles and exhibition reviews — — ArtDaily Artist features — — Art Asia Pacific Coverage February 27, 2025 Tomasz Kręcicki Magnifies the Mundane ELEPHANT Magazine Studio visit and interview April 7, 2025 Tomasz Kręcicki, absurd and move Paint and Painting Exhibition review - Press Coverage Trajectory
- Increasing international visibility: regional Polish coverage (2015-2022) → international art platform coverage (2023-present) → major art publication features (ELEPHANT studio visit 2025, Ocula Frieze coverage 2023)
Gallery & Representation
- Fair Presence
- Fair
- Frieze London
- Year
- 2023
- Gallery
- Esther Schipper
- Significance
- Major international art fair debut with top gallery
- Works Featured
- Gel (2023) - highlighted in Ocula's 'Six Paintings to Spend Time With'
- Representation
- Gallery Trajectory
- Exceptional - Secured representation with Tier 1 international gallery Esther Schipper in 2023, representing a major leap from regional Polish galleries. Maintains strong relationship with Galeria Stereo (Warsaw). Gallery expansion from regional to international indicates strong confidence in artist's market potential.
- Geographic Reach
- Market Availability
- Works available through Esther Schipper (Berlin/Paris/Seoul) and Galeria Stereo (Warsaw). Pricing structure: 'Request Price & Availability' indicates gallery-controlled primary market with selective placement strategy.
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