Josef Šíma(
March 18,
1891 -
July 24,
1971) was a renowned
Czech painter, an important figure of modern European art.
Biography
After graduating from Academy of Arts in
Prague where he was the student of
Jan Preisler he was involved in the
Devětsil movement and in Umělecká beseda in Prague before travelling to
Paris in 1921. He took French citizenship in 1926. He was artistic director for the journal
Le Grand Jeu in 1929 and friend of French
poets René Daumal,
Roger Gilbert-Lecomte and
Roger Vailland.
Style
His sources of inspiration spanned from sensual experience, through civil themes,
geometric abstraction, imaginative seeking of
archetypes of nature, things and human existence pictured as
crystals,
cosmic egg and female
torsos to fascination by landscapes and mythology, until he finally united all these elements and made a
synthesis of them in cosmic visions and symbols of human destiny.
He exhibited at documenta 2 in 1959. He also illustrated many books, made book covers, scenic paintings and designed stained glass windows (e. g. in The Church of St Jacques in Reims).
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