Theodor Pištěk (born 25 October 1932 in Prague) is a Czech painter, costume designer, set designer and former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. His costume designs and film sets are internationally acclaimed. He won an Oscar for his costumes for

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...

, directed by

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Forman ...

. For Forman’s next film, Valmont, Pištěk won a

César Award Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...

and was nominated for an Oscar. In 2003 he received the

Czech Lion Award for Unique Contribution to Czech Film Czech Lion Award The Czech Lion Awards ( cs, Český lev) are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in filmmaking and television. It is the highest award of achievement in film awarded in the Czech Republic. The jury is composed of memb ...

, in 2013 he was awarded the

Crystal Globe A Crystal Globe is a trophy given to the winners of various international competitions: In media * Crystal Globe (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival), for films * Globe de Cristal Awards, for art and culture In sport Given to the season st ...

for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema, and in 2017 he received the Golden Slipper for Outstanding Contribution to Films for Children and Young People.

Life

Theodor Pištěk, hokejový dres klubu Paleta vlasti, 1962

Theodor Pištěk is the son of two actors, Theodor Pištěk and Marie Ženíšková. He inherited his family's artistic talent and love of automobiles: his great-grandfather

František Ženíšek František Ženíšek (25 May 1849 – 15 November 1916) was a Czech painter. He was part of the "" (Generation of the National Theater), a large group of artists with nationalistic sympathies. Biography He was born in Prague into a family of m ...

was a painter, and his grandfather Julius Ženíšek worked for the Wright Company and was the founder and owner of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

´s branch in Austria-Hungary; in 1895 Julius Ženíšek became one of the first to own a

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. The actions of his business partner bankrupted the company, and the family was forced to sell

’s valuable collection of paintings. After four years at a grammar school, Theodor Pištěk switched to the

School of Applied Arts in Prague The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (AAAD, cs, Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová v Praze, abbreviated VŠUP, also known as UMPRUM) is a public university located in Prague, Czech Republic. The university offers the study d ...

(1948–1952), where his fellow students included Aleš Veselý and Milan Ressel. Pištěk learned to drive when he was just 16 years old, and at the age of 18, after passing his driving test, he joined the ''Automotoklub'' and started competing in car races. In 1952 he was accepted by the

Academy of Fine Arts in Prague The Academy of Fine Arts, Prague ( cs, Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze; AVU) is an art college in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded in 1799, it is the oldest art college in the country. The school offers twelve master's degree programs and one ...

, where he was studying under Vratislav Nechleba, a prominent portrait painter. At the time of his studies, a number of respected pre-war artists and historians (Miloslav Holý, Vlastimil Rada, Vladimír Sychra, Otakar Španiel, Jan Lauda, Václav Vilém Štech) held professorships at the Academy, and among the students were Jan Koblasa, Karel Nepraš,

Bedřich Dlouhý Bedřich Dlouhý (born 2 August 1932) is a Czech painter and an Emeritus Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Life Bedřich Dlouhý's family moved from Plzeň to Most, and after the annexation of Sudetenland in 1938, settled in Pra ...

, František Mertl, Jiří Valenta, Milan Ressel, Hugo Demartini,

Aleš Veselý Aleš Veselý (3 February 1935, Čáslav - 14 December 2015, Prague) was a Czech sculptor, graphic artist, painter and academy teacher. Life Aleš Veselý came from a mixed Jewish family of an insurance clerk and during World War II he lived wit ...

and Jaroslav Vožniak. His graduation painting, ''Boxer'', earned him an extension to his studies in the form of an honours year in Antonín Pelc's studio. A mastery of painting was important, but Pištěk and his fellow students and friends were more interested in modern art. They countered the oppressiveness of communist rule with all manner of absurdist extracurricular activities. In 1962 Pištěk and a group called ''The Šmidras'' founded an amateur ice hockey club called ''Palette of the Motherland'', whose president he was in 1977–1979. In 1958 Theodor Pištěk married Věra Filipová, an assistant film director, with whom he had two sons (Jan, born 1961 and Martin, born 1967). In the following year he designed costumes and sets for

František Vláčil František Vláčil (19 February 1924, Český Těšín – 27 January 1999, Prague) was a Czech film director, painter, and graphic artist. Between 1945 and 1950, he studied aesthetics and art history at Masaryk University in Brno. Later he w ...

’s film The White Dove. He had a studio in Břevnov in Prague, next door to Zbyněk Sekal’s studio, thanks to whom Pištěk met the art critic Jindřich Chalupecký and exhibited as a guest with the ''May 57'' group in 1964–1968. The two artists remained close friends until Sekal emigration in 1968; Pištěk subsequently visited him in Vienna, where he met the sculptor Karl Prantl. Pištěk’s first solo exhibition was in 1960 at the ''Film Club in Prague''. In 1964–1968 he was included in exhibitions by the Concretist Club. In 1964 he acquired a new studio from Hugo Demartini in Vinohrady. In the 1960s he was a

, and he competed on circuits and in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

(1967–1969). In 1967 he worked as a costume designer on

’s films

Markéta Lazarová Markéta is a feminine Czech given name, equivalent to English Margaret (name), Margaret. Notable people with the name include: *Markéta Hajdu (born 1974), Czech hammer thrower *Markéta Irglová (born 1988), Czech musician and actress *Markéta J ...

and

The Valley of the Bees ''The Valley of the Bees'' ( cs, Údolí včel) is a 1968 Czechoslovak historical drama film directed by František Vláčil. The film follows a young man Ondřej who's sent to join Teutonic order by his father. When he flees the order and returns ...

, and was one of the artists who designed the Czechoslovak pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. In 1972–1973 he was nominated for the Czechoslovak national circuit racing team. Pištěk stopped racing in 1974, but he drew on his experience as a

to co-write with Vláčil the screenplay for a film called ''Rally''. Since 1975 Pištěk has concentrated on painting. He is usually considered a photorealist, but in the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

such paintings almost always had a clandestine symbolism that could be read between the lines. In 1977 a cycle of paintings by Pištěk received a special mention from the jury at the ''International Festival of Painting'' in

Cagnes-sur-Mer Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; oc, Canha de Mar) is a French Riviera town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in south-eastern ...

in France, together with a grant that allowed him to visit artists’ studios. After his success in France several Czech galleries bought his paintings. In the 1980s he worked as a costume designer for

, winning an Oscar for

(1984), for which he was also nominated for a British Academy Film Award. For his work on Forman's next film, Valmont (1989), he was nominated for the same two awards, and he won a

from the

Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma The Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma ( en, Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques) is an organization that gives out the César Award. It was created in 1975, on the initiative of Georges Cravenne. Board of directors The board is made ...

. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

he accepted an invitation to become a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

. In 1987 he exhibited artworks and costume designs at the Henry Art Gallery in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, as well as

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in Australia. Pištěk's exhibition in Seattle was curated by

Meda Mládková Marie Magdalena Františka "Meda" Mládková ( Sokolová, 8 September 1919 – 3 May 2022) was a Czech art collector. Her husband, (1911–1989), was an economist and a governor of the IMF. Having spent several years in exile, she returned to C ...

and introduced by Zbigniew Brzezinski. In 1990 Theodor Pištěk became the chairman of

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then as ...

´s '' Prague Castle’s arts council'' and was commissioned to design new uniforms for the Prague Castle Guard. He initiated the

Jindřich Chalupecký Award The Jindřich Chalupecký Award ( cs, Cena Jindřicha Chalupeckého) is a prize awarded annually to young visual artists. Candidates must be Czech citizens under the age of 35. History The prize was established in 1990 by Václav Havel, Jiří Kol ...

for young artists, becoming one of its founders (alongside

and

Jiří Kolář Jiří Kolář (24 September 1914, Protivín – 11 August 2002, Prague) was a Czech poet, writer, painter and translator. His work included both literary and visual art. Life Kolář was born in Protivín on September 29, 1914, in a work ...

). In 1996 Pištěk had to vacate his studio, and he moved from Prague to Mukařov, where he had earlier designed and built a house. In 2000 President

awarded him a First Grade Medal of Merit, for his achievements in art. In 2004 the Czech Film and Television Academy gave him the Czech Lion Award for Unique Contribution to Czech Film. At the 2013 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival he received a

for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. In 2012–2013 he had a major retrospective at the National Gallery in Prague. and in 2019/2020 another retrospective in the Brno House of Arts.

Work

Paintings, reliefs, installations

Theodor Pištěk mastered classic realistic oil painting while studying under then prominent portrait painter professor Vratislav Nechleba. For his graduation painting, Boxer, his studies were extended to include an honours year. At the end of the 1950s he worked on portrait painting, but surprisingly his subsequent paintings did not draw on his training at the Academy, instead anticipating a Constructivist element in his art, to which he periodically returned in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and after 1990 in his three-dimensional installations. In 1960–1961 he created geometrical relief compositions in plaster as positive and negative diptychs (''In and Out'', 1960; ''Reverse'', 1961). In the early 1960s he was in close contact with Zbyněk Sekal, whose studio was next door. They influenced one another when creating material paintings, and their work was based on similar feelings about life. It was at this time that Pištěk made a series of relief assemblages from automobile components (''Synagogue'', 1962; ''Crucifixion'', 1963) and Art Informel reliefs from dismantled car radiators (''Notes from a Missing Person'', 1963; ''Execution'', 1964). He also made his first three-dimensional installation, ''The Ten Commandments'' (1964). As a counterpart to his material relief paintings, Theodor Pištěk painted airy black and white compositions in ink and nitrocellulose lacquer that combined simple geometrical forms with structures he had observed in the organic world. They are also his response to post-surrealist symbolism, something a fellow student from the Academy, Jaroslav Vožniak, was working on at this time. The subjects of these paintings were sometimes light-hearted (''How to Play Ball'', 1966) and sometimes fraught (''How to Escape'', 1965; ''Trap'', 1965; ''Unsuccessful Attempt'', 1966). File:01. Theodor Pištěk, Opak, 1961.jpg, ''Reverse'', 1961 File:03. Theodor Pištěk, Leť motýlku leť (1962), Galerie Zlatá Husa.jpg, ''Fly, butterfly, fly! '', 1962, Zlatá Husa Gallery File:Theodor Pištěk, Synagoga (1962), Galerie Zlatá husa.jpg, ''Synagogue'', 1962, Zlatá Husa Gallery File:04. Theodor Pištěk, Zápisky zmizelého, 1963.jpg, ''Notes from a Missing Person'', 1963 File:Theodor Pištěk, Nezdařený pokus 2 (1966).jpg, ''Unsuccessful Attempt 2'', 1966 Following the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

in 1968, Pištěk's drawings resembled targets with bullet holes, and their composition was accented by the use of monochromatic blocks of colour (''August Picture I–III'', 1968–1969). His series of drawings in ink and nitrocellulose lacquer continued until the beginning of the 1970s (''View Inside'', 1970; ''Half-Life'', 1970) and was followed by coloured compositions of geometrical forms (''Reflection'', 1971) and small-format oil paintings in which the geometrical order of blocks of colour was broken by small irregularities (''Fall'', 1973; ''House'', 1973). He returned to monochrome paintings in ink and nitrocellulose lacquer in the early 1980s in compositions of artificial architecture (''Where I Will Live Next'', 1982), which later became three-dimensional labyrinths (''City'', 1997). File:05. Theodor Pištěk, Srpnový obrázek I, 1968.jpg, ''August Picture I'', 1968 File:06. Theodor Pištěk, Srpnový obrázek II, 1968.jpg, ''August Picture II'', 1968 File:Theodor Pištěk, Srpnový obrázek 3 (1969).jpg, ''August Picture III'' (1969) File:Theodor Pištěk, Srpnový obrázek 4 (1969).jpg, ''August Picture IV'' (1969) File:Theodor Pištěk, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (7).jpg, ''Where I Will Live Next'', House of Art, Brno, 2019 At the height of communist repression during the normalization era, Pištěk's work featured wrapped figures and objects that served as abstract existential symbols. Fingers emerging from the wrappings indicate that these are not statues inside (''Family Portrait'', 1976; ''The Nude Maja'', 1980). The motif of a wrapped head (''Self-Portrait by the Window I-II'', 1981) is in itself terrifying, and the emptiness or ornateness of the background makes this symbol of cruelty even more disturbing. Also from this time is a cycle of illusionistic paintings in which crumpled fabric or paper bound with twine veils a hidden reality that can be glimpsed in places where the fabric or paper has been ripped. Usually the opening reveals an endless blue sky with little clouds, but the painting ''Czech Horizon'' (1979) shows only black earth under a dark sky. In the triptych ''Farewell to Youth'' (1981) Theodor Pištěk symbolically bid his racing career goodbye. File:Theodor Pištěk, Rodinný portrét (1976) Museum Kampa.jpg, ''Family Portrait'', 1976, Museum Kampa File:Theodor Pištěk, Autoportrét u okna 1 (1981).jpg, ''Self-Portrait by the Window I'', 1981 File:10. Theodor Pištěk, Autoportrét u okna II, 1981.jpg, ''Self-Portrait by the Window II'', 1981 File:09. Theodor Pištěk, Český horizont, 1979.jpg, ''Czech Horizon'', 1979 File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (3), 2012.jpg, ''Farewell to Youth'', 1981, installation, National Gallery in Prague Pištěk applied his mastery of trompe-l'œil to a series of paintings of gleaming automobile and motorcycle parts (''Angelus'', 1978; ''Gold Fever'', 1978) or the impersonal objects that surround us (''Tonca Still Life'', 1981; ''Homage to Papin'', 1981). Photography provided inspiration. This faithful hyperrealist depicting of the surface of things was not just an aesthetic phenomenon, but also a way for Pištěk to measure himself against other painters. Ultimately he came to resist his categorisation as a photorealist painter, instead describing his program as “Neo-Romanticism”. He did not want viewers to see only verism, illusion and perfection in his work, but to offset the modern cult of ugliness and hopelessness with a “new professionalism” that sought through flawless painting to evoke an atmosphere or recall a moment or story from the past that we had begun to doubt ever really happened. File:Theodor Pištěk, Angelus (1978).jpg, ''Angelus'', 1978 File:Theodor Pištěk, Vášeň 2 (1978).jpg, ''Passion 2'', 1978 File:Theodor Pištěk, Zátiší Tonca (1981) GMU Hradec Králové.jpg, ''Tonca Still Life'', 1981, GMA Hradec Králové File:Theodor Pištěk, Pocta Papinovi (1981), GU Karlovy Vary.jpg, ''Homage to Papin'', 1981, GA Karlovy Vary File:Theodor Pištěk, Zátiší s lampami (1987).jpg, ''Still Life with Lamps'', 1987 Pištěk's paintings from this period guide the viewer from sensory enchantment to seeking the mystery behind a painting. They were influenced by the film world in which he operated, and like film backdrops they created fictitious settings and brought new impulses into Czech modern art. Various disconnected narratives intersect (''The Price of Elegance'', 1973–1974; ''Landscape with a Honda'', 1977), and the illusion of reality is constantly undermined by the painter's interventions. The minutely detailed and technically flawless illusionistic painting served to deceive the viewer's senses. A seemingly torn canvas is in fact intact (''Ecce Homo'', 1983); a collage with photographs glued on and scraps of paper held by drawing pins is only a fiction in a painting (''Portrait of a Friend'', 1976; ''Midget'', 1977; ''D Day, H Hour'', 1980). Paintings include references to other artists ( Dalí in ''Self-Portrait'';

Millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

in ''Angelus'') and entirely personal messages such as digital numerals showing Pištěk's date of birth in an apparently torn canvas he created for his fiftieth birthday (''From My Life'', 1982). File:Theodor Pištěk, Velká krajina (1976), AJG Hluboká.jpg, ''Big Landscape'', 1976, AJG Hluboká File:Theodor Pištěk, Portrét přítele (1976), AJG Hluboká.jpg, ''Portrait of a Friend'', 1976, AJG Hluboká File:Theodor Pištěk, Krajina s Hondou (1977), AJG Hluboká.jpg, ''Landscape with a Honda'', 1977, AJG Hluboká File:Theodor Pištěk, Ze života (1977).jpg, ''From Life'', 1977 File:07. Theodor Pištěk, Midget, 1977.jpg, ''Midget'', 1977 Pištěk has repeatedly returned to Biblical themes. His Joseph wears overalls and is depicted sitting on a wooden plank as he rolls a cigarette. This scene of Joseph in his carpentry workshop is rendered as a torn poster that seems to have been tacked to a second picture plane showing a sports car; several nails have fallen out of the poster. The corner of the picture of the car has also been ripped off to reveal the background: a blue sky with a little cloud (''Joseph N'', 1978). ''Ecce Homo'' (1983) shows a racing driver in a balaclava as a modern paraphrasing of the Man of Sorrows. The cross has been replaced with an exploded view of an engine in the background, Christ's wounds are symbolised by illusionistic cuts painted over the driver's hands, and the canvas looks as if it has been slashed in reference to the scourging of Christ. ''The Last Supper'' (1983) cycle of paintings, a number of variations on a vacant table in front of a window with a view of an empty landscape, presents another of Pištěk's themes: a dead, empty space devoid of people, which creates tension by referring to a familiar narrative to which nothing more can be added. File:Theodor Pištěk, Josef N., (1978).jpg, ''Josef N.'', 1978 File:Theodor Pištěk, Ecce Homo, 1983.jpg, ''Ecce Homo'', 1983 File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (10), 2012.jpg, ''The Last Supper'', installation at the National Gallery in Prague, 2012 File:Theodor Pištěk, Tichá krajina (1984), Národní galerie v Praze.jpg, ''Silent Landscape'', 1984, National Gallery in Prague File:Theodor Pištěk, Adieu, Guy Moll (1992-2017).jpg, ''Adieu, Guy Moll'' (1992-2017) Since the turn of the 1980s and 90s Pištěk's paintings have included architecture that recalls film sets (''Variations on a Given Theme 1–3'', 1989). In the mid-90s Theodor Pištěk returned to geometrical abstraction in his paintings of empty and stylised architecture, where he worked with various kinds of false perspectives and lighting (''Variations 1–6'', 1995–1996; ''Building 1–2'', 1995; ''Down 1–2'', 1996; ''Column'', 1997). The illusion produced in two dimensions is both magnified and contradicted by the impression of a tangible mass emerging from the picture plane and simultaneously guided along lines into the depth of the painting, where it surprisingly loses its shadow and the concrete becomes abstract. “My work moves in spirals, always beginning with the details and gradually freeing itself from them. The image becomes empty and is simplified to the minimum.” File:Theodor Pištěk, Večírek u Plečnika (1992-1993).jpg, ''Party with Plečnik'', 1992-1993 File:Theodor Pištěk, Variace č. 1 (1995).jpg, ''Variation No. 1'', 1995 File:Theodor Pištěk, Stavba č. 1 (1995).jpg, ''Construction No. 1'', 1995 File:Theodor Pištěk, Pro Karolinku (1997-2019).jpg, ''For Little Caroline'', 1997-2019 Pištěk's contemplative ''Conversations with Hawking'' (2005–2019) are fragile geometrical constructions that delineate areas of black space interwoven with spot heights and marks indicating the motion of heavenly bodies. File:Theodor Pištěk, Rozmluva s Hawkingem 1b (2005-2006).jpg, ''Conversations with Hawking 1b'', 2005-2006 File:Theodor Pištěk, Rozmluva s Hawkingem (2012).jpg, ''Conversations with Hawking'', 2012 File:Theodor Pištěk, Rozmluva s Hawkingem (2017) II.jpg, ''Conversations with Hawking II'', 2017 File:Theodor Pištěk, Rozmluva s Hawkingem (2018).jpg, ''Conversations with Hawking'', 2018 File:Theodor Pištěk, Rozmluva s Hawkingem (2019) III.jpg, ''Conversations with Hawking III'', 2019 Besides his film work, for which Theodor Pištěk has received the highest honours, his painting is also highly valued. In 2013 his painting ''A Visit to the Harrachs'' (1979) was auctioned for CZK 3,240,000, while in 2016 ''Seagull Flying into a Dream'' (1984) was auctioned for CZK 2,900,000. His painting ''Adieu, Guy Moll'' (1992-2017) became the most expensive artwork by a living Czech artist ever sold at auction (CZK 21,200,000).

Objects

File:14. Theodor Pištěk, Bart Simpson, 2003.jpg, ''Bart Simpson'', 2003 File:Theodor Pištěk, Červená hlava (2019).jpg, ''Red Head'', 2019 File:Theodor Pištěk, Mínotaurus (2019).jpg, ''Mínotaurus'', 2019

Conceptual installations

Pištěk's conceptual installation of sacred objects in the former riding school in Hluboká nad Vltavou had a dramatic gradation and scope, and within the context of postmodern scepticism it offered an updating of the psychological values of collectively valid myths. On an altar in the foreground, which he titled ''Homage to Böcklin’s “Centaur Watching Fish”'', he placed the scoop of an excavator arching over a fish in a glass sphere. At the head of the riding school he installed an altar painting with an illusionistic landscape in the Baroque style, to which he added brightly coloured geometrical forms that quoted the American postmodernist Frank Stella. In front of this painting was a pyramid with a pile of refuse that was titled ''Reliquary''. The side altars, hidden in a labyrinth, depicted the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

as the hanging chassis of a racing car and the

Visitation Visitation may refer to: Law * Visitation (law) or contact, the right of a non-custodial parent to visit with their children * Prison visitation rights, the rules and conditions under which prisoners may have visitors Music * ''Visitation'' (D ...

made of an old petrol pump, with car doors as the angel's wings. According to Jiří Šetlík, Pištěk's subjective interpretation of our sick world unmasks our faith in consumerist idols. Pištěk's three-dimensional objects for his exhibition at the Prague City Gallery (1999) worked with the contrast between image and sound. ''Garden'' was a pavilion made of massive children's building blocks surrounded by a forest of hanging poles protecting the pavilion's privacy, with a soundtrack of whispered conversations too quiet to be heard. Next to ''Garden'' was ''Forest'', a glass pyramid filled with fragments of wood and rubbish from fly tipping, together with romantic forest still lifes and a soundtrack of chainsaws and falling trees. Other objects relate to Pištěk's film work and his racing career. At the entrance to his retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery in Prague he installed his labyrinthine ''City'' and behind it a large glass box with a pile of film costumes, while in the middle of the exhibition space was a racing car. His conceptual diorama ''The End of the Forest'' was an artificial forest made of suspended poles through which visitors could look at a painted landscape covering the entire wall (Trade Fair Palace, National Gallery in Prague, 2012). This stepping out of the picture plane into the third dimension is an agenda that Pištěk had earlier described in the introduction to a catalogue as “Neo-Romanticism”.''I love space – the endless sky, the soothing clouds and the horizon, inviting us to go beyond. This is why I am no longer satisfied with illusion and have stepped out from the picture plane.'' Theodor Pištěk (1984), in: Jiří Šetlík, Jana Brabcová (eds.), 2007, p. 7 File:11. Theodor Pištěk, Kentaur pozorující rybku, instalace AJG Hluboká, 1993.jpg, '' Centaurus Watching the Fish'', AJG Hluboká, 1993 File:12. Theodor Pištěk, Schránka na ostatky, instalace AJG Hluboká, 1993.jpg, ''Reliquary'', AJG Hluboká, 1993 File:13. Theodor Pištěk, Zahrada, instalace MK Praha, 1999.jpg, ''Garden'', Prague City Gallery, 1999 File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (1), 2012.jpg, National Gallery in Prague, 2012 File:16. Theodor Pištěk, Konec lesa, 2012.jpg, ''The End of Forest'', National Gallery in Prague 2012 File:15a. Theodor Pištěk, labyrint Město, instalace NG Praha, 2012.jpg, ''City Labyrinth'', National Gallery in Prague, 2012 File:17. Theodor Pištěk, filmové kostýmy, 2013.jpg, ''Film costumes'', National Gallery in Prague, 2012

Costumes and set design (selection)

* 1959 The White Dove (costumes, sets), directed by

* 1967

(costumes), directed by

* 1967

(costumes), directed by

* 1982–1984

, directed by

* 1989 Valmont, directed by

* 1990 uniforms, banners and insignia for the Prague Castle Guard * 1996

The People vs. Larry Flynt ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' is a 1996 American biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman, chronicling the rise of pornographer Larry Flynt and his subsequent clash with religious institutions and the law. It stars Woody Harrelson, Cour ...

, directed by

* Other films: Theodor Pištěk has worked on 111 films with many Czech and Slovak directors ( Oldřich Lipský,

Jiří Menzel Jiří Menzel () (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films ...

Jiří Krejčík Jiří Krejčík (; 26 June 1918 – 8 August 2013) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor. Born in 1918 in Prague, he began his film career as an extra for Barrandov Studios, during World War II. He then began creating short films an ...

Juraj Herz Juraj Herz (4 September 1934 – 8 April 2018) was a Czechoslovak film director, actor, and scene designer, associated with the Czechoslovak New Wave movement of the 1960s. He is best known for his 1969 horror/black comedy ''The Cremator'', ofte ...

), and with directors from other countries too ( Janusz Majewski,

Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...

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). 3* Theatre: Miss Julie (1972), Divadlo na Zábradlí, directed by

; The Queen of Spades (1972), Smetanovo divadlo;

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

(2006), National Theatre in Prague * Television serials: Arabela (1979), Mr Tau (1980), The Visitors (1982), Dune (1998), Children of Dune (2000) * Musicals (directed by Jozef Bednárik): Dracula (1994), Rusalka (1998), The Count of Monte Christo (1999)

Collections

* National Gallery in Prague *

Moravian Gallery in Brno The Moravian Gallery in Brno ( cs, Moravská galerie v Brně) is the second largest art museum in the Czech Republic, established in 1961 by merging of two older institutions. It is situated in five buildings: Pražák Palace, Governor's Palace, ...

* Museum Kampa * Regional galleries in the Czech Republic * Galleria Arturo Schwarz, Milano * Galerie Schüppenhauer, Cologne * Galerie Volkmann, Münster * Private collections home and abroad

Important exhibitions

* 2012/2013 ''Theodor Pištěk: Ecce Homo'', National Gallery in Prague File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (4), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (8), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (7), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (2), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (9), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (6), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (5), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (3), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (13), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (11), 2012.jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, instalace NG Praha (14), 2012.jpg * 2019/2020 Theodor Pištěk: Angelus, House of Arts in Brno File:Theodor Pištěk, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (1).jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (2).jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (3).jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (4).jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (5).jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (6).jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (8).jpg File:Theodor Pištěk, Angelus (2019).jpg, ''White 2'' File:Theodor Pištěk, Labyrint, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (10).jpg, ''Labyrinth'' File:Theodor Pištěk, Pyramida, expozice v Domě umění města Brna, 2019 (9).jpg, ''Pyramid''

References

Sources

Monographs

* Helena Musilová (ed.), Theodor Pištěk: Ecce homo, 168 s., Národní galerie v Praze 2012, * Jiří Šetlík, Jana Brabcová (ed.), Theodor Pištěk, 388 s., Galerie Pecka Praha 2007, * Jiří Šetlík, Theodor Pištěk, 24 s., Galerie hlavního města Prahy 1999, * Jindřich Chalupecký a kol., Theodor Pištěk, 140 s., Alšova jihočeská galerie v Hluboké nad Vltavou, Galerie hlavního města Prahy 1993 * Martin Dostál (ed.), Theodor Pištěk - Angelus, 168 s., Dům umění města Brna, KANT 2019,

Bachelor´s thesis

* Pavlína Doubravová, Hyperrealistické tendence v tvorbě Theodora Pištěka, bakalářská práce, FF a UDU JČU v Českých Budějovicích, 201
On line

Catalogues

* ''Theodor Pištěk'', 1978, Macourek Miloš, kat. 12 s., SČVU Praha * ''Theodor Pištěk: Obrazy, kresby, film'', 1982, Kotalík Jiří Tomáš, kat. 20 s., SČVU Praha * ''Theodor Pištěk'', 1984, Neumann Ivan, kat. 32 s., Galerie umění Karlovy Vary * ''Theodor Pištěk: Obrazy'', 1988, Janoušek Ivo, kat. 16 s., Ústřední kulturní dům železničářů, Praha * ''Theodor Pištěk: Hluboká 93 - 94'', 1995, Šetlík Jiří, kat. 48 s., AJG Hluboká nad Vltavou * ''Theodor Pištěk'', 2006, Machalický Jiří, kat. 10 s., Galerie Montanelli Praha * ''3x Theodor Pištěk'', 2007, Machalický Jiří, Mládková Meda, kat. 20 s., Museum Kampa – Nadace Jana a Medy Mládkových, Praha * ''Šedesátá'', ed. Magdalena Juříková, Galerie Zlatá husa, Praha 2004, , s. 308-313

Other (selection)

* Fascinace skutečností - hyperrealismus v české malbě / Fascination with relity - Hyperrealism in Czech painting, Muzeum umění Olomouc 2017, * Příliš mnoho zubů / Too Many Teeth, Musilová Helena (ed.), kat. 147 s., Retro Gallery Praha, Praha 2017, * Postava k otvírání / The figure examined, Nováčková Zuzana, Štefančíková Alica, Svoboda Petr, kat. 132 s., Galerie Benedikta Rejta, Louny, Galerie výtvarného umění v Mostě, 2016 * Před obrazem, Dospěl Milan a kol., kat. 158 s., Galerie Kodl, Praha 2015, * Stavy mysli: Za obrazem / States of Mind: Beyond the Soubor: Stálá expozice GASK, David Bartoň a kol., kat. 208 s., Galerie Středočeského kraje (GASK), Kutná Hora 2014, * České moderní a současné umění 1890 – 2010: 2. díl, Dolanská Karolína a kol., kat. 189 s., Národní galerie v Praze 2010, * Šedesátá / The sixties ze sbírky Galerie Zlatá husa, Juříková Magdalena, Železný Vladimír, kat. 414 s., Galerie Zlatá husa, Praha 2004, * Hyperrealismus, Beran Zdeněk, Vítková Martina, kat. 31 s., Západočeská galerie v Plzni 2002, * Současná minulost: Česká postmoderní moderna 1960–2000, Tetiva Vlastimil, kat. 176 s., Alšova jihočeská galerie v Hluboké nad Vltavou 2000, * Umění zrychleného času: Česká výtvarná scéna 1958–1968, Alena Potůčková (ed.), kat. 147 s., České muzeum výtvarných umění, Praha 1999 * Umění zastaveného času / Art when time stood still: Česká výtvarná scéna 1969–1985, Alena Potůčková (ed.), kat. 268 s., České muzeum výtvarných umění, Praha 1996 * Skutečnost an iluze: Tendence českého radikálního realismu, Tetiva Vlastimil, 169 s., Alšova jihočeská galerie v Hluboké nad Vltavou 1993 * Forum '88, Hlaváček Josef, Kříž Jan, Nešlehová Mahulena, Petrová Eva, Šetlík Jiří, Wittlich Petr, kat. 96 s., neoficiální výstava v Pražské tržnici 1988 * Netvořice ´81, Hlaváček Josef, Kříž Jan, Šetlík Jiří, katalog neoficiální výstavní akce u Bedřich Dlouhého v Netvořicích 1981 * Czech stage costumes / Le costume tchèque de théâtre, Marešová Šimáčková Sylva, Bubeník Květoslav, Vejražka Vítězslav, Divadelní ústav, Praha 1972

External links

World Base of Hyperrealism

Information system abART: Theodor Pištěk

Internet Movie Database: Theodor Pištěk

National Theatre Prague: Theodor Pištěk

Czech-Slovac Film Database: Theodor Pištěk

Theodor Pistek´s interviews for Czech Radio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pištěk, Theodor Czech painters Czech contemporary artists Czech male painters 20th-century male artists 21st-century male artists 1932 births Living people Artists from Prague Czech costume designers Academy of Fine Arts, Prague alumni Best Costume Design Academy Award winners