‘There will be no me, there will be no you, but your picture will remain’ - these are Zofia Rydet’s words in the opening of the film entitled ‘Nieskonczonosc dalekich drog. Podpatrzona i podsluchana Zofia Rydet A.D. 1989’ (‘The infinity of long roads. Zofia Rydet lurked and eavesdropped’), directed by Andrzej Rozycki, Zofia Rydet’s friend who, after the author’s death, cared for presenting her work. As added by Rydet in the film, a little bit later photography became her ‘only weapon, which can preserve anything from something that passes away irrecoverably; only photography, nothing more’. Zofia Rydet photographed a lot. Her archives preserve negatives, blueprints, and many unfinished works, cutouts and clippings she never got rid of.
This is the archive Andrzej Rozycki used when he created the cycle of twelve photo collages. He named his ‘Fotoandrzejozofia’. You will find two of these unique works on our auction. This is a unique event as they have never been offered for sale earlier.
This is how Krzysztof Jurecki describes these works: ‘In 2010 he created one of a kind cycle, somehow ‘collaborating’ with Rydet, who had died in 1997. The fragments which constitute Rydet’s legacy are delicately glued and may go back to their original state at any time. Thus Rozycki’s way of thinking and artistic practice are not dominant or usurping in a modernistic or parasitic manner in a postmodern relationship. It is an attempt of dialogue and looking for contact with the spirituality of the artist from Gliwice. In this way Rozycki acts in a paradigm of ancient art which looked for a contact with other dead people, including artists’ (Krzysztof Jurecki, Wspolne dziedzictwo. Fotoandrzejozofia, https://rozyckiandrzej.blogspot.com/2016/12/fotoandrzejozofia-2010.html).
When looking at ‘Fotoandrzejozofia’ you will find some parts of the most well-known cycles of Zofia Rydet, as ‘Little man’, ‘The world of emotions and creativity’, or ‘Silesian Suite’. As Krzysztof Jurecki observes, ‘All these dismembered and, most often, the most chaotic parts of life and art have been jointed in a diversified manner. There are works of a dadaist structure, but also some alluding to the classicistic imaging. The rule is as follows: the thread of either Rydet or Rozycki may be the dominating here, but also there might be a balance, something that is the most expected state’ (Krzysztof Jurecki, Wspolne dziedzictwo. Fotoandrzejozofia, https://rozyckiandrzej.blogspot.com/2016/12/fotoandrzejozofia-2010.html).
In his text, Krzysztof Jurecki emphasizes also that what Rozycki did is wholly exceptional and has no precedent in the global history of photography: ‘No one has ever merged parts of other artist’s piece of work within just one cycle. The ‘part’ of Rydet is always in the foreground. However, due to its size, the background with Rozycki may also be dominant over the foreground’ (Krzysztof Jurecki, Wspolne dziedzictwo. Fotoandrzejozofia, https://rozyckiandrzej.blogspot.com/2016/12/fotoandrzejozofia-2010.html).

Additional Charge Details:
- In addition to the hammer price, the successful bidder agrees to pay us a buyer's premium on the hammer price of each lot sold. On all lots we charge 18 %.