Igor Mitoraj Lithographs, Drawings & Works on Paper

Mitoraj Works on Paper — What I Seek

Alongside his monumental bronzes, Igor Mitoraj created an extensive body of work on paper — lithographs, etchings, drawings and mixed media works. I am actively seeking these works from private owners throughout Poland and Europe.

Types of Works

• Original drawings — pencil, charcoal, ink on paper
• Signed lithographs — numbered editions from the 1980s–2000s
• Etchings and aquatints — especially works from the Pietrasanta period
• Monotypes — unique works on paper
• Mixed media — works combining drawing with collage or gold leaf

Market Context

Rare signed drawings in good condition can achieve considerably more. Catawiki, Artcurial and various Polish auction houses regularly feature his works on paper.

Condition & Provenance

I consider works in all conditions. A certificate of authenticity or original purchase receipt is helpful but not essential — I have access to experts who can verify attribution independently.

From the Collection — Signed Works on Paper

Tindareos — Sanguine Lithograph

A sanguine (red chalk lithograph) depicting Tindareos — the mythological King of Sparta and father of Helen of Troy. The face is rendered as a bandaged, fragmented head in fluid, gestural red chalk strokes on white paper. Horizontal banding across the face evokes both wound dressing and the passage of time — the damage that recurs across Mitoraj's practice.

Signed Mitoraj in pencil lower right. Numbered edition. An original signed print from the limited graphic oeuvre — Mitoraj produced far fewer works on paper than bronzes, making signed originals significantly rarer. The same subject appears in his monumental Tindaro Screpolato bronzes.

Medium: Sanguine (red chalk) lithograph  ·  Signed: pencil, lower right  ·  Numbered edition

Angelo Fasciato — Colour Etching & Aquatint, 2004

Angelo Fasciato (Bandaged Angel) is a 2004 colour etching and aquatint in rich emerald and teal green. A large head turns in three-quarter profile, built entirely from dense, layered cross-hatching — the incised line of the etching plate reading simultaneously as sculptural mass. The pale ground glows yellow-green beneath the deeper teal of the figure. At the lower centre, a small rectangular vignette contains a winged figure — the angel of the title.

The green palette — evoking oxidised bronze patina and underwater stone — is exceptional within Mitoraj's graphic output, where warm ochres and monochrome dominate. A technically demanding work requiring multiple colour passes through the press. Signed and dated lower right: Mitoraj '04. Small numbered edition.

Medium: Colour etching and aquatint  ·  Date: 2004  ·  Signed & dated: lower right  ·  Numbered edition

Postać (Figure) — Lithograph

Postać (Polish: Figure) is a black and white lithograph — spare, gestural, and immediate. A standing figure occupies most of the sheet. The face is entirely obliterated by a dense band of rapid horizontal strokes — the characteristic effacement of Mitoraj's bandaged figures. A diagonal sash or band crosses the chest. At the left shoulder, a small rectangular vignette contains a face looking out from within the larger form, a secondary presence nested inside it.

The work has the quality of a preparatory drawing fixed in print — the spontaneous mark of the artist's hand preserved through the lithographic process. No colour, no elaborate staging: the figure, the concealed face, and the white of the paper. Signed lower right: Mitoraj. Small numbered edition.

Medium: Lithograph  ·  Signed: lower right  ·  Numbered edition

'86 Tignes / Centre Tignespace — Signed Poster, 1986

The official poster created by Mitoraj for Tignes Centre Tignespace, the cultural arts centre of the Tignes ski resort in the French Alps, 1986. The image is a gestural, large-format ink sketch of a fragmented torso — dark, confident strokes on cream paper, with diagonal lines crossing the body and a small square motif. The printed '86 TIGNES / CENTRE TIGNESPACE logo appears at the lower right. The poster has been hand-signed in blue ink by Mitoraj — a bold, fluid cursive in the right centre of the sheet.

Artist-signed event posters from this period are rare documents: printed for distribution, not galleries, yet carrying an authentic signature that closes the circle between the printed image and the artist's hand. This example dates from the same year Mitoraj was developing the Centurione series. Minor fold lines and edge wear are part of the object's history.

Type: Official signed poster  ·  Date: 1986  ·  Signed by hand in blue ink

La Maison du Sculpteur — Colour Lithograph, 1994

La Maison du Sculpteur (The Sculptor's House) is a 1994 colour lithograph in which the human body merges with architecture. A monumental dark torso fills the composition; within it, four yellow-lit windows glow like rooms in a building at night. The title is lettered across the figure in gold: LA MAISON DU SCULPTEUR. Above, loose scribbled marks in dark ink suggest sky or stone.

The image is direct and metaphorically dense: the sculptor's body is his house, lit from within, a shelter for something living. By 1994 Mitoraj was working between Paris and Pietrasanta at the height of his mature period, and the lithograph has the confidence of that moment. Colour lithographs — requiring multiple stone or plate passes — are rarer within his graphic output than monochrome works. Signed and dated lower right: Mitoraj '94. Numbered edition.

Medium: Colour lithograph  ·  Date: 1994  ·  Signed & dated: lower right  ·  Numbered edition

Works on Paper — A Distinct Market

Mitoraj's works on paper occupy a distinct position within his market. While his bronzes attract the largest prices and the widest collector base, his lithographs, etchings, and drawings appeal to collectors who want to engage with his creative process at a more intimate scale. Works on paper are also the most accessible entry point into a serious Mitoraj collection: signed lithographs begin at at auction, while original drawings in charcoal or sanguine can reach

The graphic work is also where Mitoraj's relationship with classical antiquity is most directly visible. Without the mediation of the foundry and the patina, the drawings show the artist's hand moving directly across paper — sketching heads, torsos, and mythological figures with a fluency that recalls Renaissance masters. The sanguine (red chalk) technique he favoured for many drawings is itself an antiquarian choice: sanguine was the preferred medium of Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael for figure studies.

Tindareos — The Sanguine Lithograph

The Tindareos sanguine lithograph in the collection is a prime example of Mitoraj's graphic work at its most compelling. Tyndareus — King of Sparta, husband of Leda, father of Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy — appears as a bandaged, fragmented head in fluid sanguine strokes on white paper. The signature (Mitoraj, lower right, pencil) is consistent with his documented hand on works on paper. The subject — Tyndareus — is a recurring presence in Mitoraj's mythology: the same figure appears in the monumental Tindaro Screpolato (Cracked Tyndareus) bronzes, including the celebrated example now in Warsaw after selling for a record €1.6 million in 2025.

What I Seek in Works on Paper

I am actively seeking Mitoraj lithographs, etchings, aquatints, and original drawings in all subjects — Eros, Centurione, Perseus, Icarus, bandaged heads, and figure studies. Signed and numbered editions from galleries in Paris, Milan, and Warsaw are the most liquid. Unique drawings and pastels are considered on their merits. Condition matters considerably for works on paper: foxing, tears, and exposure to light are all noted in auction catalogues and affect price. I consider works in any condition. Contact me with a photograph and I will respond the same day.