Signed in pencil bottom right Jiří John 1968,
drypoint, handmade paper, 41 × 29,2 cmAlthough Jiří John started with drawing and devoted his life to painting, it became
printmaking became particularly significant to his work in the 1960s, thanks to
which made him an internationally renowned artist. John used mostly
drypoint technique with a distinctive handwriting characterized by
short, densely-guided strokes, covering the entire surface of the scene, with no pronounced
contrasts. Nature became the subject of John's prints,
depicted, despite the initial inspiration of concrete scenes, as abstracted
universe, resembling the geological strata of the earth with its various natural
formations, rocks and crystals. A silent and poetic world without human presence,
in which the life-giving power of the earth and nature plays a central role, John
with a unique imagination far removed from his generational contemporaries. Read more
more closely related to the artistic work of Václav Boštík, with whom he
to the work of Josef Šíma, with whose work he had a long-standing friendship.
John first became acquainted with at an exhibition at the Topič Salon in Prague in
1947. In the 1960s John had the opportunity to visit France several times
and repeatedly met Šíma in person at his retrospective exhibition
(1968) and in his Paris studio.
#24024291
auction 66
66th auction of Fine Art, Antiques, Design and Glass
Information at aukce@sypka.cz, mob. 608 958 322.
