High-resolultion photograph(s) Download

Drypoint on Japanese paper. Signed lower right: “Reynek”. Bohuslav Reynek was a Czech graphic artist, poet and translator whose prints can be viewed as a visual transcription of the language of poetry. His work was very well received in France, where he exhibited in 1927–1929. In the 1930s he gradually shifted away from charcoal and pastel drawings and started to use the techniques of drypoint and etching. His prints from the 1930s often show Petrkov, the village where he was born, and the nature that he loved and inspired him. After 1939 the landscape motifs are replaced with biblical subjects, especially scenes of the crucifixion, pietàs and the denial of Peter. The most important part of Reynek's oevre of prints and poetry was created in the 1950s and 60s, when communist repression affected his family. Reynek's farm was nationalized and he himself could work here only as a worker's hand. He created his Job and Don Quixote series as well as a number of other prints during this period. Petrkov became a "pilgrimage site", where young artists and dissidents found refuge. In 1964 Reynek's wife, the French poet Suzzane Renaud, died, and after a long period Reynek was allowed to exhibit his work. But after 1968 he again became a "banned" artist, and his prints and literary work were not fully appreciated until after 1989.