Eugeniusz Węgiełek

Explosion of colours, smile and joy

He is a master of both large-scale and small-scale sculpture. As a real artist, over the years he has worked his own unique style, which reflects his soul and optimistic nature. What he creates, as he says, flows out of his heart and what he feels. He had the honour to offer one of the sculptures of the Pensive Christ to pope John Paul II. Interestingly, Eugeniusz Węgiełek became a sculptor unexpectedly.

Trained to be a carpenter, he started sculpting while he was working in the Voluntary Labor Corps in Warsaw. Then, surprisingly, he became a laureate of one of the sculpture contests. As a result of this surprising disclosure of a hidden talent, since then he has been doing artistic work, treating it as a way of life: he sculpts in wood and sandstone, making sculptures in the round and reliefs, including also openwork sculptures; he paints on a plank, glass, plywood, paper and linen. Eugeniusz is a master of joy and elation, using a rich and bright palette of colours. His motifs include saints, the most favourite of whom is Saint Francis and the Mother of God, angels, Nativity scene, Adam and Eve and the Pensive Christ. His works include also fabulously colourful birds, horses and secular motifs, such as Janko the Musician or scenes of country life. As entourage of the main characters, there are often flowers in his works. They resemble Mexican art due to the rich colours of polichromy.

His studio is arranged in his family wooden house where there is also a gallery of his works as well as of his fellow sculptors valued by him. Sculpting and painting are his passions which became a source of income as a result of systematic, everyday, yet, “extremely pleasant work”. These positive emotions are reflected in each piece of work of Eugeniusz Węgiełek. Despite reputation he earned, Eugeniusz acquires further training in the arts group Communio Graphis in Góra Kalwaria and under supervision of his tutor prof. Stefan Lisowski. He observes also other fellow sculptors and studies albums. Although it may be classified as naive, his art brings freshness and authenticity.

He willingly participates in many exhibitions in museums both in Poland and across the world. He takes part in folk art contests, winning main awards. You can meet him at folk art bazaars, he sells also his works in different galleries and Cepelia. His works are exhibited in Ethnographic Museums: in Warsaw, Cracow, Łódź and Toruń.