received care at a local hospital in Krynica and paid for the services with his paintings. As he mixed his paints with spit and the hospital feared he had tuberculosis, many of the paintings were destroyed. Name The name and surname of Nikifor have been a matter of dispute for over half a century, as he had no known relatives or documents, and was almost illiterate. He signed his works with the names Nikifor, Netyfor or Matejko. In 1962 the communist authorities in Poland arbitrarily chose the name Nikifor Krynicki (Nikifor of Krynica, after his place of residence) so that a passport could be issued for him. This act was declared null by a court in 2003, following a statement by the Lemko Association of Poland. The court identified documents which stated that Nikifor was baptized Epifaniy Drovnyak (Epifaniusz Drowniak in Polish) and his mother was Eudokia Drowniak, a Lemko woman. Following the court ruling, the name on his grave in Krynica's cemetery was altered. His tombstone now bears two names: "Epifaniy Drovnyak" in the Cyrillic alphabet and "Nikifor Krynicki" in the Latin alphabet. In popular culture Nikifor's last years were the topic of the 2004 film My Nikifor by Krzysztof Krauze, featuring actress Krystyna Feldman in the role of the artist. In 1968, Polish folk-rock group No To Co released an album titled "Nikifor" featuring a tribute song to the artist by the same name. The album also featured one of his paintings as the cover art. References External links Nikifor on ot-art.nl Nikifor at Culture.pl Nikifor. Catalogue of works. Kyiv, 2013 1895 births 1968 deaths Lemkos People from Krynica-Zdrój Rusyn painters 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Naïve painters Polish people with disabilities Polish male painters