ZAKONNIK
Linden wood, height 80 cm
Signed: Jozef Janosz / Dębno
Jozef JANOS
1895 Debno - 1985 Debno
Folk sculptor and poet. He lived in Dębno all his life in a cottage he built himself. As a young man, he learned carpentry, joinery and woodcarving, and was also a wheelwright. During World War I, as an Austrian soldier, he fought in the Eastern Carpathians.
In the 1930s he began making shrines and carving, while continuing to engage professionally in carpentry and woodcarving. The artist's work was dominated by "sacred" subjects - Biblical scenes from the Old Testament and scenes from the life of Christ, especially those concerning the Passion of Christ. He did not paint his works.
He made several hundred works. They can be found in many churches, monasteries and roadside shrines in Podhale, in museum collections in Poland and abroad. Janos' works were presented, starting in 1948, at many exhibitions of Polish folk art at home and abroad. He has been awarded many times. In 1979, the Ethnografic Museum in Cracow organized a solo exhibition of the artist's works. The artist's life and work have been the subject of numerous publications.
