A WALK THROUGH WARSAW...
   THE ORIGIN OF THE NEVIN KELLY GALLERY

I first traveled to Warsaw, Poland in April 1993.  My first impression was that nearly everything there was gray. The sky; the unadorned concrete block buildings; even the grass, trees and cars were gray from the dust and soot accumulated during more than 50 years of occupation and decay.  Independence from Soviet control had only just been attained, and little time had elapsed to make the considerable improvements that were needed for this once-beautiful city to again take its place among the great capitals of Europe.

That first weekend, I took a stroll through the beautiful Old Town section of Warsaw (the only part of Warsaw that had been completely restored following the nearly absolute destruction of Warsaw during World War II).  This was the only place that seemed to have any color at all.  Its apparently old buildings (actually reconstructed from the ground up after 1955) were faced in colorful stucco and adorned with reconstructed medieval frescoes and baroque ornamentation.  Colorful umbrellas adorned the cafes in the market square, and flowers cascaded from window boxes in the surrounding buildings.

I walked south from the Old Town along the historic Krakowskie Przedmiescie.  Although I was on one of Warsaw's premier streets, a bustling avenue of shops, cafes and boutiques, Warsaw had resumed its now-familiar drabness.  Gone were the colors of the Old Town. The world seemed to exist only in black and white (and not much of either).

From this monotonously gray corridor, a surprisingly bright and colorful row of windows shone across the street from the Polish presidential mansion.  They were the display windows of the "Galeria Art," the exhibition center for the Warsaw Branch of the Society of Polish Artists.  Warsaw today is a city of color, light and Western-quality display windows, but these windows stood out at the time like a beacon in a gray fog.  I was drawn by the light, and I entered.

On exhibit were works for sale by some of Poland's finest contemporary artists.  The gallery's curator - essentially its soul - was (and remains) Wojciech Tuleya, who today is one of the leading figures in Poland's contemporary art community.  The color, energy and intensity of the paintings Tuleya had gathered in this gallery astounded me.  I had seen nothing like them in numerous visits to U.S. art galleries.  Not to suggest that the same qualities are absent in American paintings, but these works were intelligent and emotional in a way I had not seen before, and they were clearly the product of fine academic training.  Together, these paintings gave voice to the intense emotions and new-found exhilaration of a society that had just emerged from decades (indeed centuries) of occupation, partition, war and deprivation.  Polish artists were enjoying true freedom of expression for the first time in their lives, and these works exhibited an immense outpouring.

I purchased two oil paintings by master painter Edward Dwurnik (I was pleased to learn only later that his paintings hang in the Polish National Museum). 

On my next visit a few weeks later, I acquired three more works: two charming small works by Adam Patrzyk and a large canvas entitled "Linie" ("Tug of War" or "The Rope") by Mikolaj Kasprzyk, whose works are featured in this opening exhibition.

I did not know it then, but these purchases marked the beginning of what would become a nearly obsessive love affair with Polish art.  In more than 50 visits since that first trip, I acquired additional works by Dwurnik, Kasprzyk and Patrzyk and works by Michal Zaborowski, Jolanta Wagner, Jacek Lydzba, Krzysztof Kokoryn, Aleksandra Waliszewska, Agnieszka Brzarzanska, Darek Pala, Jan Aniserowicz, Tomasz Karabowicz, Stasys Eidrigevicius, Lukasz Huculak and others.

My friends seemed to notice before I did that I spoke more passionately about these works than about my "day job" (or practically anything else, for that matter). "What if," they asked, "you were to open a gallery and introduce these works to the Washington arts community"?

It took some time and a fair bit of hand-wringing to respond, but here I am.  I begin my venture with works by just 6 of the Polish artists whose paintings I have collected.  (These are not works from my collection but new works by the same artists).  I have selected these first artists for their treatment of color, tone and mood.  Works by other Polish artists, including Dwurnik, Patrzyk and Zaborowski, will follow. 

Although I begin with the artists I know best, I do not intend to restrict myself to Polish art.  As I encounter new works by artists elsewhere, and as I become convinced of their overall quality, I hope to make them available here.  The Nevin Kelly Gallery will not be a source of "decorative art" (although the works will be attractive in their own right).  Rather, it is my commitment to offer intelligent works of high quality, genuine merit and enduring appeal. 

Whether or not you are looking to add to (or start) your collection, I invite you to visit the Nevin Kelly Gallery and be introduced to these paintings.  It is my genuine pleasure to share them with you.

~Nevin J. Kelly