František Hudeček
Park in Autumn
Artist
František Hudeček
(1909, Němčice - 1990, Praha), Czech
Original Title
Park in Autumn
Date1944
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions 66,5 × 82 cm
Classificationspaintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionFrantišek Hudeček was a graphic artist and illustrator. In his early works, he drew on the principles of Surrealism and depicted stylised nature. Motifs which he worked on throughout his life included the night pedestrian and cityscapes, which allowed him to express feelings of dire melancholy and oppressive solitude. In his work he combined contradictory ways of thinking: rational thinking and accuracy on the one hand, and unbounded fantasy and wild, oppressive visions on the other. The profound thought of perfect order was thus connected with the restlessness and pure desire for solitude.
Park in Autumn from 1944 shows an autumn city park. Although the painting’s motif is concrete, it is at the same time mysterious and ambiguous. This effect is made even more pronounced by the dark, still water in the circular fountain, as well as the bare tree branches reminiscent of sharp barbs. A Surrealist approach permeates the painting, and we can trace inspiration by the work of Max Ernst and his frottages, which greatly influenced Hudeček’s work in previous years. His works dating to the war years show a latent Surrealist sensibility, although he was well aware of its problematic nature in relation to the question of the so-called Entartete Kunst. We can consider this painting as a form of sublimation of Existential feelings of fear, isolation, but also deep melancholy reflecting feelings of emptiness, an absence of communication and a crisis of humanism.
František Hudeček (1909, Němčice – 1990, Prague) attended the School of Art and Crafts under Prof. Kyselý in Prague. In the beginning of the 1930s he met the famous Czech avantgarde artists Toyen, Jindřich Štyrský and Emil František Burian. Although Surrealism was very important to him in the 1930s and he found his way to it quite intuitively, much like many young artists of his generation he was not accepted into the Surrealist group. His most prolific period came in the 1940s when he became one of the founding members of the Skupina 42. The group’s existence was connected with the period of the Second World War when it had existential trouble and the nature of their works constantly teetered on the threshold of being banned. Hudeček thus co-created the group’s poetics, which show an enchantment with the metropolis and admiration for technical progress. He was drawn to the atmosphere of the nocturnal city which he would paint in various guises. One of his most well-known motifs became the night-time pedestrian, but he also depicted parks in various seasons. After the forced dissolution of the group in 1948, he stopped using the symbols and poetics of the city and slowly returned to the motifs of the countryside, especially those of Moravia. He similarly did not adapt to the pseudorealism of the 1950s, preferring to make illustrations and stamps. Then, during the 1960s, he turned away from the earlier style of Skupina 42 completely and took a completely different direction. His works from the 1960s come close to the contemporary tendencies of op art. All of these works were based on his distinctive perception of surface, space and their colour elevations, while preserving their pure originality. Frantisek Hudeček left a very extensive painting, drawing and graphic ouevre that is divided into many private and public collections.
Park in Autumn from 1944 shows an autumn city park. Although the painting’s motif is concrete, it is at the same time mysterious and ambiguous. This effect is made even more pronounced by the dark, still water in the circular fountain, as well as the bare tree branches reminiscent of sharp barbs. A Surrealist approach permeates the painting, and we can trace inspiration by the work of Max Ernst and his frottages, which greatly influenced Hudeček’s work in previous years. His works dating to the war years show a latent Surrealist sensibility, although he was well aware of its problematic nature in relation to the question of the so-called Entartete Kunst. We can consider this painting as a form of sublimation of Existential feelings of fear, isolation, but also deep melancholy reflecting feelings of emptiness, an absence of communication and a crisis of humanism.
František Hudeček (1909, Němčice – 1990, Prague) attended the School of Art and Crafts under Prof. Kyselý in Prague. In the beginning of the 1930s he met the famous Czech avantgarde artists Toyen, Jindřich Štyrský and Emil František Burian. Although Surrealism was very important to him in the 1930s and he found his way to it quite intuitively, much like many young artists of his generation he was not accepted into the Surrealist group. His most prolific period came in the 1940s when he became one of the founding members of the Skupina 42. The group’s existence was connected with the period of the Second World War when it had existential trouble and the nature of their works constantly teetered on the threshold of being banned. Hudeček thus co-created the group’s poetics, which show an enchantment with the metropolis and admiration for technical progress. He was drawn to the atmosphere of the nocturnal city which he would paint in various guises. One of his most well-known motifs became the night-time pedestrian, but he also depicted parks in various seasons. After the forced dissolution of the group in 1948, he stopped using the symbols and poetics of the city and slowly returned to the motifs of the countryside, especially those of Moravia. He similarly did not adapt to the pseudorealism of the 1950s, preferring to make illustrations and stamps. Then, during the 1960s, he turned away from the earlier style of Skupina 42 completely and took a completely different direction. His works from the 1960s come close to the contemporary tendencies of op art. All of these works were based on his distinctive perception of surface, space and their colour elevations, while preserving their pure originality. Frantisek Hudeček left a very extensive painting, drawing and graphic ouevre that is divided into many private and public collections.
