Edward Dwurnik is an outstanding Polish painter and graphic artist and one of the most recognisable personalities of Polish contemporary art. His oeuvre is considered ironic and grotesque, and includes expansive painting cycles focusing on recurrent social, political, and social motifs, produced in multiple versions, often simultaneously. His work was exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw; Bunkier Sztuki, Kracow; MOCAK, Cracow; Schaulager, Basel; Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin; Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw; Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; documenta, Kassel; Sydney biennial; Museum of Art, Indianapolis; Museum moderner Kunst, Vienna; Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan; and many others. His work also features in many private and public collections at home and abroad.

Edward Dwurnik, an exceptional painter, has developed his own distinctive language and means of expression over the course of his career. He has used this expressive language to depict Polish society, the inhabitants of large cities, members of various social groups and, finally, the current political situation. His unrivalled talent for using caricature, irony, and critical commentary, with a large dose of warmth and affection, has provided an unparalleled blend that makes the scenes depicted truly unique. The painting Czterdziestoletni bohater is a portrait of one of the employees in the locksmith's workshop of Dwurnik's father. The artist was thirty years old when he painted this painting, and it must be understood as the artist's observation of his intimate surroundings and the people surrounding him, while at the same time expressing the artist's respect for the Polish working class and their contribution to society.