Kamil Lhoták: Paris 47

A unique album of fourteen drawings from the French metropolis in "Galerie Pštrossova 23", from 22.11.2018 till 9.1.2019

Paris played the role of Mekka for Lhoták's entire generation, and for him personally he also represented the cradle of many technical inventions that he admired from his youth and which often inhabitated his works. The motifs of Paris have appeared in Lhoták's work since the late 1930s when he visited the city with his mother. On his second visit in September 1947, however, Lhoták's drawing skills and experience have already been fully developed into swift sovereignty, enhanced by a simple yet refined technique of colored pencils.

The cycle of fourteen drawings is actually a Lhoták‘s travel diary, which replaces photography, and whose motifs oscillate from the memorable houses of his idols (Wilde, Delacroix) through portraits of typical figures (Parisian girl, American in Paris), well-known places (Seine, Louvre) to the final gas reservoirs in Clignancourt , referring to the poetry of Group 42. A secondary reflection of this journey can be found in many of his paintings from the late 40s, depicting the Parisian realms, but also the abundantly present French flag on many otherwise unlocated canvases and drawings.

The unique Lhoták‘s convolute of fourteen Parisian drawings, adjusted in separate passe-par-touts inside a canvas folder, was probably later a gift to one of the painter's friends. According to the details and judgment of the experts, it can be concluded that the final details of the entire album were nevertheless completed during the 1960s.

The album Paris 47 is  introduced to the public for the first time and supplemented by other artist‘s works from private collections which relate to it thematically or temporarily. The unique feature of the exhibition is Lhoták's sole statue, the iconic Plovatka (Buoy), appearing in various variations on many of his canvases.

Pavel Vančát

Curator of the exhibiton