Czech Painter František Tichý 1896 Prague– 1961 Prague "pierrot And The Dancer"

Czech painter František Tichý 1896 Prague– 1961 Prague "Pierrot and the Dancer"
Mixed media
Size: 58 x 38 cm
Signed lower center Tichý 43
Mounted, framed under glass.
Numbered label on the back.

František Tichý was a special artistic personality – a loner who stood out from all artistic groups and movements. His contribution lies in a poetic, very human and singularly conceived work, with a refined technique.
His main characteristic is his sense of the graceful movement of figures and his ability to sensitively approach working with light. He accompanies the objects of his paintings, created with solid lines, light and shadow, with subtle nuances of color.
His stay in France from 1930 to 1935 was decisive for the artistic development of František Tichý. He acquired a certain technical assurance, his pictorial style and his sense of color changed. At first, he favored the techniques of gouache and watercolor, which lightened his palette and allowed him to dissolve the contours in a composition of colored dots. The influence of Georges Seurat led him to create the space of the painting using colored spots and to reinforce the poetic impression (Clown at the merry-go-round 1931, Artiste aux planches 1931). He gradually found his own technique, made up of a perfect mastery of drawing and a methodical work of the surface and the contour. By using technical means, light and color, Tichý reinforced the symbolism of his paintings and their psychological dimension (L'Homme-serpent 1931, Le Billard 1933, Le Magicien de cartes – Le Haut-de-forme blanc 1932). Life in France and contact with the local art world brought Tichý many new sources of inspiration that broadened his field of study: bullfights (Corridas de toros 1932), primitive ethnic art (Blancs et Noirs 1933), urban scenes (Café 1933, Métro parisien 1934, Toits de Paris 1935). He also painted still lifes, among which the gouache Les Verres de Chardin (1931) holds a special place. The main theme remains the characters of the circus world (clown heads, the clown Grock, magicians) and the ventriloquist motif appears as a symbol of the ambivalence of man (Vřichomluvec 1934). Among Tichý's best-known and most striking paintings from this period is the large oil on canvas The Magician (149 × 100 cm), which he began to create in 1934. After returning from Paris, he wanted to erase the painting and cut it up because he was not satisfied with the work. His friend Josef Sudek dissuaded him from doing so, and he took the painting to his apartment. In 1944, he returned it to Tichý, who worked on it again in the following years. He never considered it finished, however; he was particularly bothered by the inconsistency between the figure and the background.