Zdeněk Sklenář (1910-1986)

POETRY

1977
Oil on canvas, 53x99,5 cm, signed and dated lower center "Z. Sklenář 77". In an original artist`s frame. „In 1977, Alexandr Skalický photographed a portrait of the painter and graphic artist Zdeněk Sklenář. The painting Poetry, which Sklenář painted for Skalický at his request, also appears in the view of the camera. It is actually paradoxical that the photograph, which was supposed to remind its author of the unique moments he spent with the artist in his studio, serves today, when the Skalický collection enters the art market, as proof of the authenticity of the painting.“ /Pátek 2022/ As in other cases, the correspondence between the artist and the client is very valuable. It often documents the complex path of the creative process and significantly reveals the artist`s point of view. It is one of the fundamental values of the entire collection. „Your painting - somehow it seems very little colorful to me now. At school I had a big bright studio where I saw every line and so I got into a drawing position. But now I see everything much more in color - thanks to the new studio. That`s why I`m going to do it again and remake it. This is my way of painting, that suddenly it takes me and I remake the painting several times, when I recognize that it is good. And this is the case. That`s why be patient and everything has to turn out well in the end.“ From a letter from August 8,1977, Archive of The Moravian Gallery, fund Skalický Alexandr, board no. 5. Another mention in the correspondence testifies about the importance that Sklenář gave the painting: „At the same time, I would ask you, when I have a larger exhibition, either before cremation or after cremation, whether you could lend it - which is a big bother for collectors - I know it very well.“ /Archive of The Moravian Gallery, fund Skalický Alexandr, board no. 5./ Framed. Provenance: The collection of Alexandr Skalický.