The publication Man on a Tightrope with the text by PhDr. Karel Srp Ph.D. is out. You can order the more than three hundred-page book in our e-shop. The book is accompanied by an exhibition in the Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb.
"At the end of 1948, a sharp turning point occurred in the life of František Tichý. The respected professor at the Prague Academy of Applied Arts, one of the most successful painters, graphic artists and illustrators of the 1930s and 1940s, was accused of formalism by Stalinist criticism. He was deprived of his teaching position and for many years of all exhibition and publication opportunities. His concentrated work suddenly entered a crisis, caused by external and internal causes, the pressing pressure of social and political events, as well as deeper reasons hidden in the author's personality, which have only now come to the surface. During a long creative and exhibition silence in the 1950s, he devoted himself primarily to completing three significant paintings - The Magician with Cards, The Ventriloquist and Capriccio. After his premature death, he left the last two paintings in his studio as a profound, open statement about his fate."
– Karel Srp
The publication, which has been in the works for a long time, was created in cooperation with collection institutions throughout the Czech Republic, as well as dozens of private collectors who kindly provided František Tichý's works for reproduction. The publication presents František Tichý not only through his work but also as a personality seen through the viewfinder of photographers Václav Chochola, Josef Sudek and others.
The publication is accompanied by an exhibition at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb, which begins on June 26 and will last until September 21, 2025. And you can buy the book here.
