Lot 170

Josef Vyleťal (1940 - 1989) GOLDEN HELMET

The work of Josef Vyleťal is one of the jewels of post-war Czech art. Vyleťal's works from the exhibition in 1975 in Barcelona became the subject of an admiration letter sent to him by Salvador Dali himself. He wrote to him: "There are only two of us left." The surreal theme of the Golden Helmet mixes the dreamy or even hallucinatory drama and sophistication of Rafael-like style. Through visor of the golden helmet the world looked at by an unworldly, even slightly blissful face with a pungent look. The face is all the more impressive with its veristic concept in contrast to the luminous green mist, which is itself a new surreality. The mystical archetypal figure is perhaps the embodiment of a modern angel, perhaps an ancient deity whose attribute has become a golden helmet. In the blood red heart, which it opens before us, a divine being emerges from the chaos of hands and veiled bodies - at first glance it seems a bit dreamy, but at second glance we see a wide-open god's eye. Josef Vyleťal thus transforms a chaos inside into an element of existential meditation and extraterrestrial beauty. Authenticity granted by Olga Vyleťalová, artist's wife.