Tadeusz Rolke, Alina Szapocznikow, 1960

In collaboration with Galeria Le Guern, we are proud to present a rare photograph from the archive of Tadeusz Rolke, available for sale for the very first time.

This is a pre-sale of a limited edition print, offered exclusively through us.
The official premiere will take place on September 7 during the Hotel Warszawa Art Fair.

For framed works, the production time is up to 14 days.

For over eight decades, Tadeusz Rolke has viewed the world through the lens of his camera. As a professional photojournalist, he worked for Stolica weekly, Polska monthly, Ty i Ja biweekly, as well as German magazines such as Stern and Art. Alongside his reportage, Rolke cultivated a more personal body of work, which he once called “photography of no use to anyone.” Both sides of his oeuvre have been exhibited in galleries and museums in Poland and abroad. What unites Rolke’s diverse output is his profound sensitivity to the world around him — above all, to people. This photographic attentiveness, together with his passion for art, has remained constant across the decades of his creative practice.

The subject of this photograph is Alina Szapocznikow, one of Poland’s most renowned visual artists. Rolke and Szapocznikow first met in 1957 while he was preparing a reportage on her for Stolica. Their encounter grew into a lasting friendship. Rolke became the author of numerous portraits of Szapocznikow, photographing her at exhibition openings and visiting her in her studio. This particular photograph was taken in the early 1960s, capturing the artist at work in her famous studio on Brzozowa Street in Warsaw’s Old Town.