Josef Bolf

Otto M. Urban, Josef Bolf–Tušení stínu, National Gallery, Prague, 2019, p. 211, catalogued & illustrated

The works of Josef Bolf, one of the key figures of contemporary Czech art, are characterized by a fragile combination of obsession, vulnerability and sensuality. His paintings reflect his early experience with the stylization of comics as well as his subsequent mastery of the technique of scratched-through Indian ink on a layer of wax. In his works, Bolf returns to the period of his childhood, which he persuasively confronts with harsh reality. Figures depicted against the background of a dehumanized city and confronted by the feelings of loneliness, failure and death, and the relationship between man and his environment in general, are the prevalent themes in his oeuvre.