Zbyšek Sion / Jericho

(1960–1961)

At that time structural abstract painting predominated Sion’s oeuvre; he made use of dispersal binders and moulded the surface of the picture into textured entities that bore certain hallmarks of nihilism. An example of this is the painting Jericho, whose structure and the aggressiveness of its approach evokes a powerful sense of futility and anxiety. In 1963 Sion abandoned abstraction and returned to more traditional artistic techniques. He sought in his works to create his own notional universe that derives from symbols from the past of European culture.

SION ZBYŠEK

The painter and graphic artist Zbyšek Sion studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Brno and the art school run by Josef Vodrážka (1957−1958), and subsequently in the studios of Jiří Horník and Karel Souček at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts (1958−1964). There he came to know a doughty generation of artists such as Karel Nepraš, Bedřich Dlouhý and Jan Koblasa. Sion’s oeuvre became synonymous with a kind of sardonic sarcasm. Initially his works inclined towards abstraction and bordered on gestural painting. They tended to contain a moral parable and some of his canvases evoked catastrophic visions. Sion is regarded as one of the first exponents of art informel on the Czech art scene, and along with Aleš Veselý, Antonín Tomalík, Vladimír Boudník and others he inveighed against fixed artistic conventions and abandoned traditional artistic means of expression. Their works were presented at so-called Confrontations —— semi-legal exhibitions held in the studios of Jiří Valenta and Aleš Veselý in 1960.

The Master of the Hradec Králové / The Virgin Mary with SS Barbara and Catherine

around 1490

The Holy Family with the John the Baptist as a Child and St Roch

(1st decade of the 16th century)

Hans von Aachen / Job in Misfortune

(pre-1600)

Domenico Fetti / Adonis

(post 1613)

The Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava is funded by the Moravian-Silesian Region.

Příspěvková organizace Moravskoslezkého kraje

Home