Czech Informel is characterized as an artistic current of expressive structural abstraction that emerged from particular local circumstances during the late 1950s and early 1960s. This movement fundamentally challenged prevailing artistic production, particularly the compromised and aestheticized official art, thereby marking a pivotal moment in Czech art history. International critics recognized the distinctiveness of these works, noting a powerful rebellion by approximately thirty avant-garde artists, a phenomenon unprecedented in Czechoslovakia. The term "informel" originated with French critic Waldemar-George in 1945 and was subsequently adopted and popularized by painter Michel Tapié, notably in the title of his 1951 exhibition, Signifiants de l´informel, held at Paul Facchetti's studio. However, Czech Informel shares only certain creative techniques with international informel, which, as conceptualized by Enrico Crispolti, encompasses a diverse array of artistic expressions from tachism to lyrical abstraction.
Terminology and Definition
The term "Czech Informel" was retrospectively coined and formally defined only in conjunction with the 1991 exhibition and its associated symposium. During the 1960s, the designation structural abstraction was prevalent; however, Mahulena Nešlehová considers this term imprecise and potentially misleading, given that "structure" typically implies an internally organized order. Informel, conversely, incorporates elements of chance and the manifestation of spontaneous emotions, embodying an "expressive material antipainting." It diverges from purely gestural art, as its emphasis extended beyond merely embedding strong expression within the final form; critical criteria also included the meticulous manipulation of material structures and the refinement of artistic techniques. This pursuit of a definitive, complete, and self-contained work, seemingly at odds with the inherent openness and immediacy of the creative process, is rooted in cultural tradition and constitutes a distinctive attribute of Czech Informel, reflecting characteristics of a "national school." The intricate, articulated structure reflects the artist's psychological complexity and the work's spiritual and ethical dimensions. Within the post-war context, the overt deconstruction of the figure simultaneously implies its reassertion or even sacralization, transforming damaged material into a metaphor for wounded humanity and a ritualistic body bearing stigmata. Over time, Informel has emerged as a fitting artistic articulation of the human intellectual and conscious state during the post-war and Cold War periods, grappling with profound existential and subjective concerns.
A defining characteristic of Informel works was the imperative to dissolve the traditional boundaries between painting and sculpture (specifically relief) and to dismantle conventional forms. This involved employing diverse methods to physically manifest internal emotions, encoding, documenting, and solidifying them. Artists explored the expressive potential of matter and composed images from disparate materials that extended into three-dimensional space, often removed from their conventional contexts or divested of their typical functions. Significance was often ascribed to the void encircling the central element. The creative process itself encompassed both the revelation and obfuscation of matter, encrypting it within intricate systems of form and semantics, thereby intensifying emotional impact through material composition. During the extended creative endeavor, the painting's material was manipulated, kneaded, and deconstructed; diverse materials were layered, incinerated, fragmented, and reassembled, resulting in artifacts possessing an almost magical quality and exhibiting a distinct "baroque" character. Materials employed in Informel creations included found objects bearing the marks of time and human interaction, alongside synthetic varnishes, sand, nails, wires, strings, sheets, rags, asphalt, and wood fragments. Of particular significance was acronex (polyvinyl acetate, an artificially softened resin), a newly developed and scarce synthetic material that facilitated the amalgamation of disparate elements and the construction of pronounced relief structures.
Czech Informel distinguished itself from comparable European artistic movements, which relied on the aesthetic impact of raw materials and structures but eventually lost inherent credibility due to repetitive application, by prioritizing its profound existential underpinnings. This artistic approach, characterized by the perpetual construction and deconstruction of imagery, served as a direct response to the era's harsh realities. It sought to delve into the fundamental essence of creation, where emergence inherently entails the dissolution of what preceded it, thereby mirroring the inherent fragility of human existence. The artworks bear the subtle imprint of their creators' narratives, individuals who often existed on the periphery of societal norms. Rather than abstract conceptualization, the manifestation of creative thought involved a direct engagement with material substances and, by extension, with the earth itself. Within the oppressive climate of totalitarian dictatorship, marked by its crude propagandistic optimism, a discerning individual's only recourse was absolute negation. This Czech material expression, interpreted as a mystical form of symbolic self-mortification, provides an insight into the abyss of death and the void. Art historian Jan Kříž posited that Czech Informel represented an internalized form of expressionism, where death served as the gateway to a realm of absolute autonomy and liberation. During these tumultuous periods, such radical artistic rebellion often exacted a toll, manifesting as a diminished will to live, tragically exemplified by the premature deaths of Antonín Tomalík (1939-1968) and Vladimír Boudník (1924-1968), and the untimely demise of Jiří Balcar (1929-1968). Conversely, Ševčík argued that the mystical creation of objects, along with its accompanying rituals, and the pursuit of transcendence and aesthetic refinement, offered a means of salvation from tragedy and a re-engagement with the assurance of a superior spiritual order, thus representing an affirmation of life.
A work of art, serving as a symbol for confronting an estranged world, can embody either a resurgence of mythopoeic archetypes or an active gesture that externalizes and articulates a personal cognitive framework. In non-figurative artistic expressions, which inherently lack discernible sensory visual components, the conveyance of meaning (or the documentation of the artist's psychological state) relies on a system of symbols and signs. These elements resist direct decipherment, instead requiring a sensual and unconscious apprehension. The culmination of an artwork signifies, for the artist, the conclusion of an identification process that is neither repeatable nor subject to reinterpretation. As an image-object, the artwork augments the world's objective and spiritual dimensions with a phenomenon whose rationally elusive existence provokes and compels the viewer to seek deeper meaning and significance. Such works possess a distinctive, almost magical allure, rendering it impossible to encounter them without observation or to remain unaffected by their presence. The creations within Czech Informel exhibit a strong affinity, characterized by their profound monochrome palette and a stringent conceptualization of expressive material structures.
The artistic movement known as "Czech Informel" encapsulates the fundamental characteristics of Czech art, encompassing both its advantageous and disadvantageous aspects. Milan Knížák observed a parallel between Czech Informel and Czech art from the latter half of the 19th century, particularly in their shared intensity of pathos, pronounced literariness, and a distinctive form of "material" patriotism.
Photographic Informel
Non-figurative photography, characterized by its depiction of formlessness, randomness, and disorganization, can be seen as a precursor to Informel painting and sculpture. This style emerges when photographers intentionally eliminate context and spatial orientation by closely framing subjects. Paradoxically, a concrete depiction of matter often leads to increased abstraction, mirroring the non-figurative textures found in paintings. Walls frequently appear as photographic subjects, drawing parallels between totalitarian regimes and carceral environments. Surrealist influences converge with existentialist thought around the pervasive theme of death, evident in subjects such as tombstones, stelae, burnt apertures, and the desolate landscapes of junkyards and material graveyards. This dynamic interplay between inward penetration and outward pressure is visually articulated through an emphasis on the layering, peeling, cracks, crevices, bulges, and protrusions of material surfaces. The aesthetic of banality, which, at its most extreme, elevates indifferent nothingness to an aesthetic object, also traces its origins to surrealism. Informel's humanistic and morally imperative message, stemming from profound anxiety and perceived threats, advocates for the courage to confront challenging social conditions and undertake significant personal risks. Furthermore, existentialism served as a philosophical defense of individualism against state-imposed collectivism.
A distinct facet of photographic Informel involves experimental manipulation of photographic emulsions, resulting in the creation of entirely artificial textures. Notable examples include Miloš Koreček's fokalks, alongside selected works by Miroslav Hák, Čestmír Janošek, and Běla Kolářová.
History
The emergence of an authentic Czech structural abstraction movement around 1959–1960 represents a singular phenomenon in the history of Czech art. This artistic current, distinguished by its artistic and moral coherence, introduced a degree of radicalism previously absent from Czech art.
Czech Informel encompassed a brief, precisely delimited period and involved a restricted cohort of artists, primarily students or recent alumni of the Academy of Fine Arts. Aleš Veselý identifies a shared foundational principle: a repudiation of traditional painting and an inclination towards gestural-expressive abstraction. Significant influences extended beyond the artistic realm, including literary works by Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, James Joyce, and Ladislav Klíma, as well as the absurdist writings of Samuel Beckett. Musical inspirations comprised serial and punctual compositions by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Krzysztof Penderecki, and electronic music by Edgard Varèse. Furthermore, advancements in physics and mathematics, particularly the work of Heisenberg and Wiener, also played a role. Despite having only fragmented knowledge of international art, Czech artists recognized an affinity with Jean Dubuffet's Art Brut. They were familiar with Alberto Burri's compositions of stitched jute sacks, the abstract relief textures of Jean Fautrier and Manolo Millares, Antoni Tàpies' material paintings, Zoltán Kemény's metal reliefs, and sculptures by Eduardo Paolozzi, Lynn Chadwick, and Kenneth Armitage. Additional inspiration derived from the neglected, dilapidated, and somber urban landscape of Prague in the 1950s.
This artistic phenomenon emerged organically among a small group of individuals, united not by a formal program but by a shared spiritual sensibility. The movement's progenitors vehemently rejected both the spurious ideological tenets of "socialist realism"—which mandated depicting reality with a light, fresh technique and exultant colors—and the prevailing contemporary output of diluted Impressionist and Fauvist derivatives, as well as the subdued modernist trends fostered by groups such as Máj 57, Trasa, or UB 12. Within the intense atmosphere of the era, the authenticity of the movement was largely established during the brief period between two private exhibitions titled "Confrontation": the first held in March 1960 at Jiří Valenta's studio, and the second in October 1960 at Aleš Veselý's studio. During the summer of 1960, an impromptu exhibition was arranged in Jiří Valenta's studio for international critics who were visiting Prague en route from the AICA congress in Poland. Consequently, several articles discussing the phenomenon of Czech Informel appeared in prominent foreign journals.
The public exhibitions held in 1964 at the Nová síň Gallery (Exhibition D) and in 1965 at Alšova síň UB largely summarized and concluded the dynamic phase of this artistic period. Subsequently, a distinct mannerism emerged, transforming the initial raw gestural style into aesthetic decoration. The surrealist underpinnings of Informel were later mythologized by theorists, who characterized the unique aspects of domestic work as a romantic tradition, rich in symbolization and peculiar exclusivity. By the mid-1960s, all artists from the foundational generation of Czech Informel had transitioned back to figuration or other artistic modalities. The inherent rawness of Informel, however, paved the way for the avant-garde art of the 1960s, incorporating elements such as Neo-Dadaism, Lettrism, Pop Art, Op Art, constructivist trends, action art, new figuration, and the post-surrealist aesthetic of 'strangeness'.
Around 1965, a younger generation emerged, superficially engaging with the surrealist aesthetic without genuine content or spiritual depth, substituting profound existential experience with trivial metaphor. Their adoption of non-figurative art was not driven by a desire for novel expression but rather represented a formal embrace of abstract language or a contradictory attempt to convey established themes through contemporary methods.
Artists
Jan Koblasa is recognized as the foundational figure and organizer of the Confrontations movement; his studio hosted the inaugural unofficial exhibition of his works, created over the preceding four months, in June 1959. The radical faction of Czech Informel comprised artists who participated in the initial two Confrontations exhibitions: Zdeněk Beran, Vladimír Boudník, Čestmír Janošek, Jan Koblasa, Antonín Málek, Antonín Tomalík, Jiří Valenta, Aleš Veselý, and Zbyšek Sion. Mikuláš Medek and Emila Medková also received invitations to the Konfrontace exhibitions but declined to participate.
During the 1960s, a broader cohort of artists, gravitating towards abstraction and intending to form the Confrontation group, included Jiří Balcar, Zdeněk Beran, Václav Boštík, Vladimír Boudník, Hugo Demartini, Bedřich Dlouhý, Jan Hendrych, Josef Istler, Jiří Janeček, Čestmír Janošek, Olga Karlíková, Jan Koblasa, Jiří Kolář, Běla Kolářová, Jitka Kolínská, Jan Kotík, Karel Kuklík, Antonín Málek, Karel Malich, Pavla Mautnerová, Mikuláš Medek, Emila Medková, Jiří Mrázek, Ludmila Padrtová, Robert Piesen, Zbyněk Sekal, Zbyšek Sion, Václav Tikal, Antonín Tomalík, Jiří Valenta, Vladimír Vašíček, Aleš Veselý, Marián Čunderlík, and Juraj Kočiš. This circle also encompassed theoreticians Antonín Hartmann, Jan Kříž, Bohumír Mráz, Ludmila Vachtová, and Dalibor Veselý.
While Czech abstract art of the 1960s had earlier antecedents, no direct lineage connects it to Czech Informel. Isolated abstract works from the 1940s, for instance, originated in surrealism, exemplified by artists such as Toyen, Josef Istler, and the Ra Group. Abstract elements are also discernible in the oeuvres of Zdenek Rykr, Pravoslav Kotík, and Jan Kotík. Between 1954 and 1959, Vladimír Boudník introduced novel expressive possibilities to Czech art through his "active" and "structural" prints. Additional members of the Confrontation group, including Istler, Kotík, and Tikal, also demonstrate continuity with artistic developments of the 1950s. In the late 1950s and 1960, artists such as Jan Kubíček, Jan Koblasa, Čestmír Janošek, Jiří Balcar, and Robert Piesen produced abstract monotypes and tachistic or cast paintings.
Radical structural abstraction significantly influenced a diverse array of artists; beyond the initial participants of the Confrontations, the informel style was adopted in the early 1960s by figures such as Karel Nepraš, Bedřich Dlouhý, Jaroslav Vožniak, Pavel Nešleha, Naděžda Plíšková, Jaroslav Hovadík, Miloslav Hladký, Petr Bareš, Dana Puchnarová, Jaroslav Šerých, Jan Steklík, Eva Janošková, James Janíček, Jan Švankmajer, Jan Hladík, Vladimír Suchánek, Lubomír Přibyl, and Hugo Demartini. Several photographers, including Stanislav Benc, Čestmír Krátký, and Karel Kuklík, also participated in the Confrontation exhibitions. Furthermore, the informel aesthetic extended to works like Václav Mergl's graduate film, which utilized the animation of amorphous masses. The potent, negating force of structural abstraction resonated profoundly in Slovakia, leading to the inaugural Confrontation held in Bratislava in 1961 at Jozef Jankovič's studio. Eduard Ovčáček and Miloš Urbásek were instrumental in initiating subsequent unofficial exhibitions, known as the Bratislava Confrontations.
In 1965, Zdenek Felix identified Boudník, Medek, Istler, and Piesen as foundational figures of the movement. According to Felix, the original Informel circle subsequently diverged into two distinct currents. The first current, characterized by radical structural abstraction, advanced the development of original relief-objects (e.g., Málek, Tomalík) and assemblages (e.g., Veselý), or transitioned into figurative art (e.g., Koblasa, Valenta, Sion). Čestmír Janošek, for instance, integrated elements of Neo-Dada and Pop Art into his artistic practice. The second current encompassed artists associated with a fantastical tendency (e.g., Nepraš, Dlouhý, Vožniak), whose work drew inspiration from the surrealist traditions of Janoušek, Štyrský, Toyen, and Tikal.
During the latter half of the 1960s, art historians' interest in Informel waned, and 1968 tragically marked the deaths of Tomalík, Boudník, and Balcar. Following the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, numerous artists, including Koblasa, Valenta, Málek, Sekal, Kotík, Čestmír Janošek, Eva Janošek, and Hovadík, emigrated. Robert Piesen and Pavla Mautnerová had already departed Czechoslovakia prior to 1965. Those artists who remained in Czechoslovakia were subsequently deemed undesirable by the regime and subjected to internal exile.
Exhibitions
- March 1960, Jiří Valenta's studio – Featuring Zdeněk Beran, Vladimír Boudník, Čestmír Janošek, Jan Koblasa, Antonín Málek, Antonín Tomalík, Jiří Valenta, Aleš Veselý, and Italian guest Guido Biasi.
- October 1960, Aleš Veselý's studio – Featuring Vladimír Boudník, Čestmír Janošek, Jan Koblasa, Václav Křížek, Antonín Málek, Zbyšek Sion, Antonín Tomalík, Jiří Valenta, Aleš Veselý, and photographers Stanislav Benc, Karel Kuklík, and Jiří Putta.
- 1962 Argumenta I., Galerie sztuki nowocesnej Krzywe Koło, Warsaw – Featuring Jiří Balcar, Vladimír Boudník, Josef Istler, Jan Koblasa, Mikuláš Medek, Aleš Veselý, Robert Piesen; Polish participants included Marian Bogusz, Zbygniev Dłubak, Stefan Gierowski, Bronisłav Kierzkowski, Edward Krasiński, Hilary Kryzstofiak, Alfred Lenica, Teresa Pągowska, Henryk Stażewski, Jerzy Tchórzewski, and Rajmund Ziemski.
- 1964 Exhibition D, Nová síň Gallery – Featuring Jiří Balcar, Vladimír Boudník, Josef Istler, Čestmír Janošek, Jan Koblasa, Mikuláš Medek, Karel Nepraš, Robert Piesen, Zbyněk Sekal, Jiří Valenta, and Aleš Veselý.
- 1965 Konfrontace III, Alšova síň - Umělecká beseda – Featuring Vladimír Boudník, Miloslav Hotový, James Janíček, Čestmír Janošek, Antonín Málek, Pavel Nešleha, Zbyšek Sion, Antonín Tomalík, Jiří Valenta, and photographers Stanislav Benc, Čestmír Krátký, and Karel Kuklík.
- 1991 Český informel. Průkopníci abstrakce z let 1957-1964 / Czech Informel. Pioneers of Abstraction 1957–1964, Old Town Hall, Prague.
- 1991 Antonín Tomalík: Výběr z díla 1957 - 1968 / Selected Works 1957 - 1968, Old Town Hall, Prague.
- 1991 Český informel. Strukturální fotografie, okruh bratislavských konfrontací a autoři mimo hlavní proud / Czech Informel. Structural Photography, the Bratislava Confrontation Circuit, and Authors Outside the Mainstream, Václav Špála Gallery, Prague.
- 2015 Informel a jeho přesahy. Výstava z depozitáře / Informel and its Overlaps. Exhibition from the Depository, Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb.
- 2016 Informel - 60. léta ze sbírek Galerie výtvarného umění v Ostravě / Informel - 1960s from the Collections of the Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava.
Selected Works
References
Notes
Sources
- Dryje, František, and Bertrand Schmitt (eds.). Jan Švankmajer, Ivo Purš. *Dimensions of Dialogue—Between Film and Fine Art*. Řevnice: Arbor Vitae, 2012. 508 pages. ISBN 9788074670169.
- Spielmann, Peter (ed.). *Informel and the Cobra Group from the Collections of the Bochum Museum*. DU of Brno, SGVU Cheb, 1998. ISBN 80-7009-096-0.
- Nešlehová, Mahulena (ed.). *The Message of Another Expression: The Concept of Informel in Czech Art of the 1950s and First Half of the 1960s*. BASE Publishing House, Artefact, Prague, 1997. ISBN 80-902481-0-1 (BASE), ISBN 80-902160-0-5 (ArteFACT).
- Judlová, Marie (ed.). *Focal Points of Rebirth: Czech Art 1956–1963*. Prague City Gallery, Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 1994. ISBN 9788070100295.
- Nešlehová, Mahulena (ed.). *Czech Informel: Pioneers of Abstraction 1957–1964*. 268 pp. Gallery of the Capital City of Prague, SGVU Litoměřice, 1991.
- *Informel: Proceedings of the Symposium*. Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, 1991.
- Šmejkal, František. "Konfrontace 1960." *Tvář* no. 2 (1964): 26–27.
- Ashton, Dore. *The Unknown Shore: A View of Contemporary Art*. 265 pp. Little, Brown, Boston, 1962.
Thesis
- Jiráská, Karolína. "Extra-Artistic Influences on Czech Informel: Aesthetics and the Case of Jiří Valenta." Master's thesis, FF MUNI Brno, 2021.
- Jan Souček, Czech Informel (with examples of works)
- Information system abART: Informel