Lot 199

Jiří Kolář (1914 - 2002) HOMMAGE TO ALBRECHT DÜRER

In the presented chiasma, Jiří Kolář probably alludes to Dürer's exceptional knowledge of mathematics and geometry, when Dürer avidly drew plans of various polygons and polyhedra and published his own book on geometry with instructions for the construction of figures shortly before he died. He regarded geometry as the basis of art. As a truly Renaissance man, he attempted to define some variables theoretically in his Four Books on Measurement, believing that, as far as technique and imagination were concerned, German artists were good but lacked the Italian knowledge of the exact. The interdisciplinary play of geometry, measurement, construction and artistic imagination was undoubtedly inspiring for Jiri Kolar, an autodidact, poet and one of the most respected artists of European stature in his time.