Henryk Michael Fantazos (NC, b. 1944), Corporate Calisthenics

Conte pencil on paper, signed and titled at lower left, mounted in a gilt frame below glass.

Sheet size 11 5/8 x 9 in.; Frame dimensions 19 1/2 x 16 1/2 in.

From the Collection of Ron W. Djuren, Durham, North Carolina

Henryk Fantazos, born in 1944 in Kamionka Strumilowa (then Poland), is a painter and copper engraver known for his richly detailed, symbolically charged works rooted in the traditions of magic realism and allegory. He studied at the Lyceum of Fine Arts in Katowice and earned his Master’s degree in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków in 1969. Disenchanted with the prevailing modernist trends of the time, Fantazos pursued a personal artistic vision grounded in classical technique and narrative depth.
After immigrating to the United States in 1975, he initially settled in West Virginia before making Hillsborough, North Carolina, his long-term home. There, he has spent decades creating paintings and engravings that explore themes of mythology, nature, and the human condition. His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows across Europe and the U.S., and is held in both public and private collections. Fantazos continues to work prolifically, describing his art as a “long love letter” to the American South .

Some grime below glass, barely visible toning/spotting to the sheet.