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Josef Čapek |
Josef Čapek – brother of one of the most significant 20th century writers, Karel Čapek – was a versatile and talented artist. He was born in 1887 and died in 1945 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (the precise date is unknown). Josef Čapek graduated from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and also shortly attended the Colarossi studio in Paris. He was a member of all Czech avant-garde groups and associations as, e.g., the Group of Fine Artists, the Mánes association and the Hard-Headed [Tvrdošíjní] group, and collaborated with the Umělecká beseda association. He was an editor of the Artistic Monthly [Umělecký měsíčník] and published in Národní listy and Lidové noviny. His work in the field of arts, which has been hitherto highly appreciated, was influenced by Fauvism, but mainly Cubism, whose very specific protagonist Čapek became. He employed Cubism in his strongly social-oriented painting during the 1920s, thus developing the specifically Czech branch of this formal tendency. He later developed the Cubist aspects as far as to the form of sign abbreviations that are well-known from his period characteristic of landscape and children’s subjects. He also created expressive paintings during the 1930s – for example the series “Nights”, “Fishermen” and “Florists”. He, however, did not succeed to finish his last cycle “Victory”, conceived in the spirit of humanist ideas as a war protest. Only two parts of it remained – the sets “Fire” and “Desire”. Josef Čapek moreover created numerous prints and was extensively involved in stage design and illustration.
Artworks of this author offered by Prague Art & Design
Josef Čapek
Solo Exhibitions
2013 | For Many Ears, best of Fait Gallery Collection
