Nikifor (actually Epifaniusz Drowniak, since 1962 Nikifor Krynicki; Krynica around 1895 - Krynica 1968) - Lemek, a well-known naive painter from Krynica, self-taught. He suffered from hearing and speech disorders, he never studied at any school, could not write or read. His true passion and a way to communicate with the world was painting. He started painting early - the artist's oldest known works date back to 1920. He painted with watercolors, also using a pencil. He used every available piece of paper, notebook covers, cigarette packs. He created a whole series of pictures - touchingly naive representations of architecture, landscapes, saints, portraits. He often signed his works with incomprehensible strings of "printed" letters and glued frames of colored paper to them. His work was noticed already in the 1930s (Kapists), but the real discovery of the Nikifor phenomenon took place only after the war, when he was taken care of and admitted to the Association of Polish Artists and Designers. In 1962 he was named Krynicki. Convinced of the importance of his art, he also used the nickname Matejko.
