Lot 183

Milan Paštéka (1931 - 1998) WAITING AT A TABLE

The author has always been intensely aware of the difference between seeing a topic and testimony about it. During the 1970s, Milan Paštéka took a major turn in figurative work. The figures completely lose their dynamism, become static observers, wait and remain silent during mutual encounters, sometimes completely ignoring each other. They often sit at a table or on a bench in an empty room and remain motionless. Paštéka subjects the subjects to new and new tests, questions social issues and repeatedly places the actors of the paintings on chairs in closed interiors. A woman in a blue dress sits with her arms along her body at a set table with fruit, a pot, and a pan, and in the background, an illuminated door opens as a counterpoint to the static of the room. Paštéka's figures with only a hinted or hidden face form an introspective theme, with which the author looks at his own feelings and captures them with extraordinary virtuosity on the canvas.