Artist Index: Drtikol, Frantisek

Woman in hat. 1914. Vintage gelatin silver print. 20 x 15,5 cm. Mounted to card and board, signed and dated by the photographer in pencil below image on mount.

Some mirroirng in dark areas in right side, otherwise in very good condition.

"Le rire" (Female nude with skull). Circa 1913. Vintage warm-toned bromoil print on Japan. 25,9 x 31,4 cm. Signed by the photographer in pencil in lower right in margin.

At the beginning of the century, Frantisek Drtikol was also part of the international pictorialist movement. During this period, he created a number of photographs using very elaborate techniques, such as this two-color oil pigment print on thin Japanese paper. His artistic ideas are already evident here. From this point on, he often combines female nudes in expressive gestures and movements with dramatic lighting effects. With this image, he also managed to transform a relatively simple subject into a dynamic and at the same time humorous gesture.

Lit.: Zuzana Fortova. Frantisek Drtikol: photographe, peintre, mystique. Prague 1998, ill. pl. III/2.

Female nude, Prague. 1925/printed 1985 by Vaclav Jirasek. Gelatin silver print. 33 x 27 cm. Editioned 1/3 on the verso.

In very good condition.

Provenance: From a Czech private collection, to Galerie Johannes Faber, Vienna, to the present owner.

Nude study. 1920. Vintage green-toned bromoil print on Imperial Japan. 30 x 23,6 cm. Signed and dated by the photographer in pencil in lower right in margin, mounted to card (soiled).

A rare pigment print of this poetic image by Drtikol. – Tear in lower edge, edges with slight damage, some buckling, especially in lower right corner and upper portion, small spot at left hip level, light scratch in right edge, otherwise a rich dark print in very good condition.