03 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Contemporary 20th C. Interpretation of the Bible!, František Drtikol's Étude de la Crucifixion - #12

František Drtikol

Detail; Femme crucifiée, 1913

gelatin silver print on bromide paper

22 x 16.4 cm. ( 8 ¾ x 6 ½ in.)

Private collection

František Drtikol

Étude de la Crucifixion, 1914

Private collection

František Drtikol (3 March 1883, Příbram – 13 January 1961, Prague) was a Czech photographer of international renown. He is especially known for his characteristically epic photographs, often nudes and portraits.

He had his own studio, until 1935 where he operated an important portrait photostudio in Prague. Drtikol made many portraits of very important people and nudes which show development from pictorialism and symbolism to modern composite pictures of the nude body with geometric decorations and thrown shadows, where it is possible to find a number of parallels with the avant-garde works of the period. 

He began using paper cut-outs in a period he called "photopurism". These photographs resembled silhouettes of the human form. Later he gave up photography and concentrated on painting. After the studio was sold Drtikol focused mainly on painting, Buddhist religious and philosophical systems. In the final stage of his photographic work Drtikol created compositions of little carved figures, with elongated shapes, symbolically expressing various themes from Buddhism. In the 1920s and 1930s, he received significant awards at international photo salons. More on František Drtikol

František Drtikol

Étude de la Crucifixion, 1914

Private collection

In 1910, Frantisek Drtikol opened his studio in Prague and rapidly developed a reputation as a portrait photographer. At first, his personal work - mostly landscapes - diffused a symbolist-like pictorialist aesthetic. In the 1920s, he created daring and inventive nude studies that mingled Cubism, Abstraction and Art Deco - ‘I am inspired by three things: decorativeness, motion, and the stillness and expression of individual lines.’ To do so, he enjoyed contrasting the curves of the feminine body against solid geometric Art Deco forms, fragmenting shapes, using the light techniques of silent films and integrating expressive dance moves. More on Frantisek Drtikol

František Drtikol

Femme crucifiée, 1913

gelatin silver print on bromide paper

22 x 16.4 cm. ( 8 ¾ x 6 ½ in.)

Private collection

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

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