Lot 3462 - A203 PostWar & Contemporary - Thursday, 01. December 2022, 02.00 PM
ZDENEK SYKORA
(1920 Louny 2011)
Nr. 8 – Trio Op 2. 1978.
Oil and pencil on canvas.
Signed, dated and titled on the reverse: Sykora 1978 Hirsals, trio. Signed, dated, titled and with measurements on the stretcher: Nr. 8 "Trio Op 2" 150 × 150, 1978. Zdeněk Sýkora.
150 × 150 cm.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Lenka Sýkorová, Louny, 5 October 2022 (recorded with the title: Lines No 8 – Hiršal’s Trio). We thank Ms Sýkorová for her kind assistance.
Provenance:
- Galerie Média, Neuchâtel.
- Purchased from the above by the present owner, since then private collection Switzerland.
Exhibitions:
- Gorinchem 1979, Kunstcentrum Badhuis, Zdeněk Sýkora, Computer-schilderijen. September 22 - October 25.
- Neuchâtel 1981-1982, Gallery Média. Cycle Média '81. 14 March - 10 January.
"Even a combination that at first seemed uninteresting can lead to a result that I am surprised by. Chance enriches people: it prevents them from falling into stereotypes. With every picture, I end up being the one who is most shocked, even though I know at least a little bit beforehand what might emerge. I find the greatest analogy for this kind of art in music. For a composer who writes the individual parts more or less separately, it must also be a great experience to hear the whole work played in its entirety by all the instruments." Zdeněk Sýkora
The Czech painter and sculptor Zdeněk Sýkora was one of the most widely exhibited and innovative exponents of Abstract, Concrete and Constructive Art.
By reducing natural forms and colours, the artist gradually arrived at a form of geometric abstraction with a systematic pictorial structure: the Structural Pictures. With them Sýkora found a pictorial solution for the relationships between form and colour. The first computer-programmed structures were created as early as 1964.
From 1973 onwards, the computer pioneer developed a new system based on the calculated principle of chance, which formed the basis of his well-known line pictures. Shapes, lengths, thicknesses, colours, and their intersections are determined by random numbers generated on the computer. Lines became important elements in Sýkora's paintings for the first time. Released from the strict order of structural grids, the line allowed him greater painterly freedom.
For Sýkora, music is the pinnacle of all art forms because of its physical effect, complexity, and abstract nature. Ever since he created his first line paintings, he cherished the desire to transform them into a musical form. Consequently, it is no coincidence that in the present work entitled "Lines No 8 - Hiršal's Trio" the series of numbers used to establish the lines in this work are referred to Sýkora as “musical scores". For the viewer, this cheerful large-format work from 1978 with its black, orange, and violet meandering lines, which in places form themselves into tangles and gently meet, has the effect of a closely integrated harmonic symphony. This unique painting exemplifies the vitality and individuality that Sýkora is able to breathe into his line paintings.
With the support of his wife, Sýkora continued to develop the theme of lines. The painting offered here, "Lines No 65" from 1990, is quite compelling with its black and blue, wider, and narrower, curved and almost straight lines, as well as the isolated small and larger dots, which are interrelated in an original way.
Although Zdeněk Sýkora worked with systems, programmes, and the progressive principle of chance, he always remained true to painting.
CHF 150 000 / 250 000 | (€ 154 640 / 257 730)
Sold for CHF 568 800 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.