Lotto 3493 - A213 Postwar e contemporary art - giovedì, 26. giugno 2025, 15h00
MIKULÁŠ MEDEK
(1926 Prague 1974)
Sensitivni manifestace IV. 1963.
Oil and enamel on canvas.
Signed and dated lower right: MEDEK 63, as well as signed, dated and titled on the reverse: Sensitivni manifestace IV M. Medek 1963.
170.5 × 120 cm.
Provenance:
- Private collection, Switzerland, acquired directly from the artist in 1973.
Exhibited:
The work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Mikuláš Medek.
As a central figure in Czech post-war art, in his work Mikuláš Medek combined precision of technique with a psychological and symbolic dimension. From the 1960s onwards, he developed an unmistakable visual language that is situated between abstraction, Informel and an existentially charged symbolism - a language that was strongly shaped by personal experiences, spiritual questions and social upheavals.
These two large-format works from 1963 also belong to this phase. These works were created during a brief moment of cultural opening in Czechoslovakia, a few years before the Prague Spring. During this time, abstract art was at least temporarily possible, and Medek consistently utilised this freedom to distance himself from the official understanding of art in the socialist era. The paintings from this period are a prime example of Medek's uncompromising, individual approach to painting and are now regarded as key works in his oeuvre as a whole - as an expression of an artistic stance that is both aesthetically and politically opposed to any form of official control.
During this period, he worked intensively on developing his characteristic treatment of the picture surface: multi-layered applications of colour, incisions and relief-like structures create dense, haptic pictorial spaces. The richly textured, almost bruised appearance is indicative of Medek's engagement with the painted surface. From early on, he began to use enamel paint alongside oil in order to intervene even more directly in the materiality of the work.
Medek's targeted use of black, blue and red is particularly striking - colours that always appear symbolically heightened in his oeuvre and often speak to the emotional or metaphysical realms.
His works from this period seem like encrypted systems - interwoven with forms reminiscent of bodies, apparatus or organic structures. Their exact function remains open, but they are characterised by a strong visual presence - a feature that also distinguishes the works on offer here at auction.
These two large-format works from 1963 also belong to this phase. These works were created during a brief moment of cultural opening in Czechoslovakia, a few years before the Prague Spring. During this time, abstract art was at least temporarily possible, and Medek consistently utilised this freedom to distance himself from the official understanding of art in the socialist era. The paintings from this period are a prime example of Medek's uncompromising, individual approach to painting and are now regarded as key works in his oeuvre as a whole - as an expression of an artistic stance that is both aesthetically and politically opposed to any form of official control.
During this period, he worked intensively on developing his characteristic treatment of the picture surface: multi-layered applications of colour, incisions and relief-like structures create dense, haptic pictorial spaces. The richly textured, almost bruised appearance is indicative of Medek's engagement with the painted surface. From early on, he began to use enamel paint alongside oil in order to intervene even more directly in the materiality of the work.
Medek's targeted use of black, blue and red is particularly striking - colours that always appear symbolically heightened in his oeuvre and often speak to the emotional or metaphysical realms.
His works from this period seem like encrypted systems - interwoven with forms reminiscent of bodies, apparatus or organic structures. Their exact function remains open, but they are characterised by a strong visual presence - a feature that also distinguishes the works on offer here at auction.
CHF 250 000 / 350 000 | (€ 257 730 / 360 820)
Venduto per CHF 400 000 (incl. premio)
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