Josef Istler
Monologue
Artist
Josef Istler
(1919, Praha - 2000, Praha), Czech
Original Title
Monologue
Date1969
Mediumoil, assamblage and resin on wood
Dimensions242 × 122 cm
Classificationspaintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionJosef Istler is among the most prominent figures of Czech post-war art. His painterly practice primarily drew on new tendencies in surrealism and imaginative abstraction. His early surrealist work, imbued with the anxiety of life during the war, was created in illegality due to its incompatibility with the cultural dictate of the Protectorate government. Istler found kindred spirits in the art group Ra, which was formed during World War II and existed until 1948 and brought together artists from the younger generation of surrealists. During this time, Istler’s painterly and graphic practice was strongly influenced by the writings of fellow Ra members Ludvík Kundera and Zdeněk Lorenc. The group was generally open to experimentation and held convictions similar to the new revolutionary surrealist movement in Paris, which advocated for a purely artistic approach in place of automatism and literariness. Istler’s work underwent radical changes between 1944 and 1945, when he produced a series of monotypes marked by spontaneous gesturalism. The structural characteristics of certain other works he produced during this time, such as May 1945 (1945), foreshadow the incipient wave of European art informel. After a short-lived burst of creative freedom from 1945 to 1948, Ra was forced to disband, and its members had to return to working in illegality. During this period, Istler dedicated himself to creating illegal underground anthologies and experimenting with graphic design and painting, which led him back to abstract painting during the second half of the 1950s. In the 1960s, Istler definitively abandoned representational painting, steering his practice closer to contemporary trends in art informel. These works, based on experimentation with combining different technical approaches, often contain a textural dimension due to the incorporation of glass or textiles which add a tactile element to the richly layered structure of the painting.
Monologue (1969) represents Istler’s informalist work from the 1960s, based on the use of new materials and emphasizing the process of gradual layering and disruption of the surface. As in most of his works from this period, the powerful expression of this piece stems from the alluring contrast of deep shades of black and blue with fluorescent yellows as well as from the combination of textured, three-dimensional elements with light layers of glaze, applied to the canvas using a spray gun. The visual signification of the work evokes imagery of magical totems and simultaneously conveys the author’s longing for transcendence and psychophysical projection.
Josef Istler (1919, Prague – 2000, Prague) was a self-taught artist who only shortly attended private painting lessons under Walter Höfner in Yugoslavia (1938-1939). The main inspirations for his artistic practice were the works of Paul Klee and Max Ernst, but his interest in surrealism was also influenced by close ties with Karle Tiege and Toyen. From the late 1930s to 1948, he was a member of the surrealist group Ra, which maintained contact with Vladimír Boudník and Mikuláš Medek. In 1947, Istler attended the International Conference of Revolutionary Surrealism in Brussels and met future members of the art group CoBrA—his work was exhibited at some of their exhibitions in the following years. After the disbanding of the group Ra in 1948, he became part of Karl Tiege’s social circles, and following Tiege’s death in 1951 continued to collaborate with Vratislav Effenberger, Mikuláš Medek, and other artists. During the 1960s, Istler worked closely with a circle of like-minded artists such as Mukuláš Medek, Jan Koblasa, Robert Piesen, and Zbyněk Sekal. He exhibited with them at the seminal 1964 Exhibition D at the Nová Síň Gallery in Prague which displayed contemporary art of the time. In the same year, Jan Kříž and František Šmejkal helped him to start collaborating with the international art group Phases, with which he exhibited in Brussels. A large collection of his graphic works was shown at the 1968 international exhibition Contemporary Alternatives 3 in Aguila, Italy. In 1989, he had retrospectives in Liberec, Cheb, and Karlovy Vary, the latter also including Monologue. Istler’s work is held in numerous Czech institutions as well as international institutions such as the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. A broader contextualization and recognition of Istler’s work has been prompted by exhibitions of recent years. His early experimental work from the Ra period was displayed as part of the exhibition Repartir à zéro at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. In the Czech context, important contributions were made by the exhibitions Years in Days: Czech Art 1945-1957 (Prague City Gallery, 2010) and End of the Avantgarde?: From the Munich Agreement to the Communist Coup (Prague City Gallery, 2011), as well as the book A Message of Different Expression: Approaches to Art Informel in Czech of the 1950s and Early 1960s (Mahulena Nešlehová, 1997).
Monologue (1969) represents Istler’s informalist work from the 1960s, based on the use of new materials and emphasizing the process of gradual layering and disruption of the surface. As in most of his works from this period, the powerful expression of this piece stems from the alluring contrast of deep shades of black and blue with fluorescent yellows as well as from the combination of textured, three-dimensional elements with light layers of glaze, applied to the canvas using a spray gun. The visual signification of the work evokes imagery of magical totems and simultaneously conveys the author’s longing for transcendence and psychophysical projection.
Josef Istler (1919, Prague – 2000, Prague) was a self-taught artist who only shortly attended private painting lessons under Walter Höfner in Yugoslavia (1938-1939). The main inspirations for his artistic practice were the works of Paul Klee and Max Ernst, but his interest in surrealism was also influenced by close ties with Karle Tiege and Toyen. From the late 1930s to 1948, he was a member of the surrealist group Ra, which maintained contact with Vladimír Boudník and Mikuláš Medek. In 1947, Istler attended the International Conference of Revolutionary Surrealism in Brussels and met future members of the art group CoBrA—his work was exhibited at some of their exhibitions in the following years. After the disbanding of the group Ra in 1948, he became part of Karl Tiege’s social circles, and following Tiege’s death in 1951 continued to collaborate with Vratislav Effenberger, Mikuláš Medek, and other artists. During the 1960s, Istler worked closely with a circle of like-minded artists such as Mukuláš Medek, Jan Koblasa, Robert Piesen, and Zbyněk Sekal. He exhibited with them at the seminal 1964 Exhibition D at the Nová Síň Gallery in Prague which displayed contemporary art of the time. In the same year, Jan Kříž and František Šmejkal helped him to start collaborating with the international art group Phases, with which he exhibited in Brussels. A large collection of his graphic works was shown at the 1968 international exhibition Contemporary Alternatives 3 in Aguila, Italy. In 1989, he had retrospectives in Liberec, Cheb, and Karlovy Vary, the latter also including Monologue. Istler’s work is held in numerous Czech institutions as well as international institutions such as the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. A broader contextualization and recognition of Istler’s work has been prompted by exhibitions of recent years. His early experimental work from the Ra period was displayed as part of the exhibition Repartir à zéro at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. In the Czech context, important contributions were made by the exhibitions Years in Days: Czech Art 1945-1957 (Prague City Gallery, 2010) and End of the Avantgarde?: From the Munich Agreement to the Communist Coup (Prague City Gallery, 2011), as well as the book A Message of Different Expression: Approaches to Art Informel in Czech of the 1950s and Early 1960s (Mahulena Nešlehová, 1997).
