Several charming paintings from the artist’s heretofore overlooked period.
During the summer season of 2020, Galerie Zdeněk Sklenář is pleased to present the artist Václav Boštík (1913–2005) through seventeen artworks from a period that has so far been overlooked. The paintings, displayed in an impressive installation designed by the architect Josef Pleskot and the painter Jan Merta, explore the Czech countryside and the places where Boštík grew up. One oft-repeated motif is a mill – a reference to the painter’s relationship to his father, who was a miller, and the family homestead near Litomyšl. Other works depict biblical scenes, which were one of Boštík’s main sources of inspiration. Although these works made during the artist’s early period between 1935 and 1940 were still executed in the spirit of realism, a closer examination of these masterpieces reveals a sort of simplification, visible chiefly in the brushstrokes and the way the painter treated colour. Specifically, the subtle transitions in colour tones and their harmonious interaction led Boštík to produce his famous abstract works in the early 1960s. The exhibition includes a unique painting of the artist – a self portrait with an expressively harmonised colour scheme. The set of exhibited artworks culminates with four early drawings made between 1943 and 1946, which indicate the path Boštík followed from realism to abstraction.
Exhibition Author: Zdeněk Sklenář
Architectural Design: Josef Pleskot, Jan Merta
Guided tours have been planned to accompany the exhibitions, which will take place on Saturday 25 July, 8 August and 15 August 2020 starting at 11 am. Please register by sending an email to: event@zdeneksklenar.cz.
