My Background in Art
Much has been written and said about what qualifies an object as art, a person as an artist, and the relationship between the two. Perhaps the wiser approach is to leave this debate to philosophers, art critics and historians.
My journey through art was not marked by a formal education, but rather by assimilation through my association with artists and my own experimentation and practice. I never had any intention of making a living through my art, and in many ways I am glad I did not because it left me with a desire to paint solely for the pleasure of it.
Ever since my first days of school I have been drawing and doodling at every opportunity - usually during recess on the blackboard or my desk - to the great dismay of my teachers and cheering of my classmates. My earliest drawings always consisted of knights, horses and other animals. I tried to stay away from formal art classes since the themes were forced upon us and always focused on the “glorious Red Army” or some other political themes.
During my teenage years I stopped drawing at school, and although I kept up with some occasional doodling at home, the majority of my free time was preoccupied with model building, stamp collecting and amateur science experiments. After my 18th birthday I began my compulsory two year military service and became a medic after six months of training. I was lucky in that I had a room to myself, which was actually a first aid station, and, since I served during peacetime and thus had few wounded soldiers to care for, found myself with ample spare time on my hands. It was during this period that I first began to paint seriously with oils. With due sarcasm, I consider this period as the only time I succeeded commercially as an artist, since I “sold” all my paintings from this period to my commanding officer in exchange for weekend leave. Towards the end of my service I met Frantisek Kotrc, who was an architect and artist in civil life, and he introduced me to a group of art students who worked with Professor Marie Kucova-Uchytilova, then teaching at the Applied Academy of Arts in Prague. Among her many works, the most famous and monumental is the Lidice Memorial, which she completed with her husband, J.V. Hampl, who was also an artist. It was in their company that I assimilated many aspects of art through visiting their studios and mingling with various artists until I left Prague for Canada in 1964.
During my first four years of study at McGill University in Montreal, I painted a few oils, one which I still own, but most of which I gave away. In 1970 I moved to Toronto where I continued to paint and saw two of my works exhibited in a small gallery. Due to the demands of my career at the University of Toronto, I stopped painting until 2000, when I again picked up a brush and began to learn watercolours and later acrylics.
In November 2007 I started to work on my home gallery and studio which I am planning to inaugurate in the fall of 2008. My motifs for painting coming directly from my love of nature and travel.
My Galleries
If you wish to view my art, please visit this link to my virtual Art Gallery
Workshops and courses taken
Feb 5 - Mar 4 2008 Royal Ontario Museum
Intermediate landscape watercolours painting with David McEown
Oct 16 - Nov 20 2007 Royal Ontario Museum
Landscape watercolours painting with David McEown
Aug 13 - 17, 2007 Toronto Outdoor Watercolour Painting
Painting The Town Red )or Green, or Blue..) with Barry Coombs
Apr - May 2007 Royal Ontario Museum
Introduction to Acrylic Painting with Debby Smith
Oct - Dec 2006 Royal Ontario Museum
Intermediate watercolours with Anthony Batten
Mar - Apr 2006 San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Painting trip and workshop with Barry Coombs
Jan - Feb 2006 Royal Ontario Museum
Landscape watercolours with David McEown
2005 Art Gallery of Ontario
Introduction watercolours with Brian Hoxha
2000 Art Gallery of Ontario
Introduction to watercolours with Barry Coombs
Artist that influenced me most
My formative years in Europe
Vincent van Gogh - Paul Gaugain Joan Mirò - Pablo Picasso - Josef Lada - Jan Zrzavy - Josef Manes - Mikolas Ales - Arnost Karasek - Alfons Mucha - Gustav Klimt - Paul Klee - Max Ernst - Salvador Dali -
After my arrival to Canada
Group of Seven
Emily Carr -
Dorisd McCarthy - David McEown - Robert Bateman
Art Galleries and Museums visited
AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
McMichael Art Gallery - Kleinburg, Ontario
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
Musée des Beaux-arts de Montréal
Albertina, Vienna
National Gallery, Prague
Manes Gallery, Prague
Musée de Louvre, Paris
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
| (1) Julie Mon, 8 September 2008 17:31:52 -0400 |
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