Painter, art restorer, associated with the 'II Grupa Krakowska'
Karol Pustelnik was born in 1918 in Frydrychowice near Wadowice. From an early age, he was passionate about drawing and painting, following the example of his father, who was a self-taught artist.
Before the Second World War, he was friends with such Wadowice-based artists of the younger generation as Wincenty Bałys, Franciszek Suknarowski, Roman Brańka and Karol Wojtyła. He came into contact with the milieu of 'Czartak. A congregation of poets in the Beskid' in Gorzeń Dolny, where he met, among others, the prose writer and poet Emil Zegadłowicz.
Between 1937 and 1939, he studied at the State Institute of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he passed his matriculation exam. During the Nazi occupation, before being sent to forced labour in Germany, he worked on polychromy in the church in Frydrychowice.
He graduated from the Faculty of Conservation of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków in 1952. Among his lecturers were the outstanding painter and graphic artist H. Uziembło, the sculptor J. Puget and the versatile artist T. Kantor.
After his diploma, he became involved in the artistic milieu of Kraków, participating in exhibitions of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers and the Salon of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Kraków.
From 1957, Pustelnik was a member, organised by Tadeusz Kantor, of the 'II Grupa Krakowska', with which he bound his artistic path. Despite this, he remained an individualist distancing himself from the big city, creating in his hometown, closer to nature.
By training, Karol was a conservator of art monuments, mainly sacred in the regions: Małopolska, Świętokrzyskie and Podkarpackie. His work in Wadowice included the gilding of the altar in the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the work at the Pallottine Fathers on Kopiec, the Nazareth Sisters and the Carmelite Fathers 'na Górce'.
For the artist, the conservation of monuments was his livelihood, but he was first and foremost a painter, and painting was his passion.
The Pustelnik's paintings always attracted the attention of art connoisseurs. In his work he was original and unique. He never adhered to a particular or current style in art. His style can be characterised as dynamic, full of colour and richness, magic and imaginative figures. Among the painting techniques used by Pustelnik are watercolour, oil, tempera and collage. His works can be found in museum collections in Kraków, Warszawa, Szczecin and Wadowice, among others. His paintings also adorn private collections.
Karol Pustelnik died in 2010 at the age of 92. He was buried at the Communal Cemetery in Wadowice.