Lot 189

Radoslav Kratina (1928 - 1999) COLOURED STRIPES

In the early years of his work, Radoslav Kratina dealt with applied art and later with monotypes based on various prints. The breakthrough in his work came in 1964, when he constructed his first variable relief. He filled a wooden frame with burnt matchsticks, thus creating a relief whose form could be altered by finger pressure, changing the appearance of the structure. In 1965, he arrived at the first wooden variabil (the artist's term), in which the bars were divided into alternating red and white painted fields. They were placed in a frame in which they could move horizontally. The starting point is a geometric construction that allows for a myriad of variations. However, with the new material of metal, the appearance of his works also changed: the original relief structures became free sculpture from the 1970s onwards. This is when tower-like structures and objects composed of jetting rods began to appear. The work on offer comes from the estate of the Czech artist Jan Wagner, who acquired the work directly from the artist.