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Vaclav Vytlacil
"Positano Coast"

1951

About the Item

Vaclav Vytlacil (Vas-lav Vit-la-chil) was born in New York City in 1892 to Czech parents, but was raised in Chicago. He was an artist since boyhood, becoming the youngest student to enroll in the Art Institute of Chicago in 1906. There he earned a scholarship to The Art Students League in New York in 1913. He studied at the League for three years under John C. Johansen and Anders Zorn. In 1916, Vytlacil accepted an invitation to teach at the Minneapolis School of Art where he remained for four years. At the age of 29, and at the crossroads in his painting career, Vyt (a name affectionately given) decided it was time for “the European experience” It was believed by most artists at the time that Europe offered many more superior values in art, and with a strong desire to investigate the art of Cezanne, Vyt left the US for Europe in 1922. He headed to Paris where he befriended fellow painters and had his eyes opened to a whole new world of art. In Vyt’s words, “Many shattering experiences brought home to me that I knew practically nothing about painting. Or in other words, what I did know, did not amount to much!” He next went to Munich where along with new found American artist friends, Worth Ryder and Ernest Thurn, Vyt studied under (relatively unknown teacher and artist at the time) Hans Hoffman. Now Modernism was the focus of Vyt’s art, quite a change from his previous more academic teachings. The traditions being exercised by Picasso, Braque, and Cezanne among other French Modernists were greatly influenced through Hofmann’s tutelage. Vyt continued to travel and paint throughout Europe, Mexico, Jamaica, Monhegan, Martha’s Vineyard, California, Colorado and New York. In the 1950s, abstract expressionists like De Kooning and Pollock reverted to figural representations of women. Vaclav Vytlacil did as well, however his figures suggested more similarities to Picasso who also shared the more representational classical elements as opposed to pure abstraction
  • Creator:
    Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1951
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 33 in (83.82 cm)Width: 40 in (101.6 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Lambertville, NJ
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 055V1stDibs: G13022315747
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