Adam Marczyński was one of the most original artists of post-war Krakow. A member of the Krakow Group (which also included Maria J🐽arema (lot 17) and Jonasz Stern (lot 16)), in the second half of the 1950s Marczyński began to underline structure in his works and the macro-cosmos of generalized visual forms became the micro-cosmos of greatest interest to the artist. Colour, rendered sensitively in delicate, harmonized arrangements became his main source of lyricism. Around 1960 he abandoned two-dimensional paintings in favour of paintings-objects and ventured into collages, half-spatial works made with a variety of materials. These works became known as ‘Konkrety’ – Concrete Items. In the following years Marczyński moved increasingly towards sculpture-like three-dimensional works.

In the present work, small boxes that can be opened or closed, form a kinetic geometric assemblage that is everchanging and plays with light and shadow. The salient characteristic of works such as Variable Reflections 4 are therefore that they allow for viewer intervention. Marczyński’s structures constitute dynamic ‘open’ works and by manoeuvring their elements viewers can create ephemeral, changeable and original compositions ▨of thꦫeir own – the law of probability their only limitation.