Josef Vyleťal (1940-1989)

FIGURE (STUDY FOR THE APOCALYPSE)

1970s–1980s
Oil on cardboard, 23×18.5 cm (40×36 cm). Signed bottom centre "Vyleťal". Framed. An intimate figurative composition represents a typical example of the imaginative painting of Josef Vyleťal, an artist positioned between Surrealism and fantastical Realism. A solitary, strongly modelled head of an old figure emerges from a dark red background, in which the figure partially dissolves into the painterly matter. Above the head, fantastical organic shapes appear, reminiscent of a still life or symbolic attributes. Similar motifs occur in the artist`s cycle inspired by the theme of the Apocalypse, in which Vyleťal works with the motif of the mask, transformation and existential tension. The work can thus be understood as an intimate study for an imaginative figural composition with an apocalyptic subtext. Condition A. Assessed in consultations by O. Vyleťalová, the artist’s wife, and PhDr. J. Machalický.