Václav Boštík (6 November 1913 – 7 May 2005) was a Czech painter, graphic artist and illustrator.

Career

In 1937, he joined the Academy in Prague and from 1942, he was a member of the '' Umělecká beseda'' (Art Forum). In 1959, he became one of the founding members of the UB 12 Group. His early work is much influenced by painters

Corot CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly t ...

and Cézanne and realism. However, by the late 1950s, he had begun painting abstract art. His first solo exhibition was held in Prague in 1957. Due to the limited possibilities of exhibitions in Czechoslovakia, he also worked as a restorer and book illustrator. Among other things, he participated in the restoration of Renaissance artistic work on the facade of

Litomyšl Litomyšl (; ) is a town in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 10,000 inhabitants. It is a former bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see. Litomyšl is known for the château-type castle complex of the Lit ...

castle. Between 1955 and 1959, together with Jiří John, he created a unique memorial to Holocaust victims in Prague, which consisted of writing the names of 77 297 Czech Holocaust victims on the wall of the

Pinkas Synagogue The Pinkas Synagogue () is a former Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Široká 3, in the Josefov (Prague), Jewish Town of Prague, in the Czech Republic. Completed in 1535, the synagogue the second oldest surviving synagogue i ...

in Prague. Since the 1970s, he has presented his work at solo exhibitions abroad (

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

). In 1991, he was awarded the ''Chevalier de L'

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

'' (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letter) by the French government. Shortly before his death, in 2004 he received an award from the Minister of Culture and in the same year Medal of Merit from the

President of the Czech Republic The president of the Czech Republic, constitutionally defined as the President of the Republic (), is the head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The presidency has largely bee ...

.Karel SRP (2011), Vaclav Bostik, p. 443-457, Prague,

References

Czech graphic designers Czech illustrators 1913 births 2005 deaths Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) Academy of Fine Arts in Prague alumni 20th-century Czech painters 20th-century Czech male artists Czech male painters Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres {{CzechRepublic-painter-stub

Career

See also

References