Description:

Typically paper taped at edges. Unsigned but with the number #195 by the artist on the verso in pencil.

Jan Saudek was born in Prague in 1935. His first attempts at photography were made when he received his first camera at the age of 15. In the years that followed, he was also drawn to painting. His artistic work was heavily influenced by the catalogue of the photography exhibition, Family of Man by Edward Steichen. This work pushed him to make his typical "wall" compositions in the early 1970s, which became a sort of projection screen for his figural scenes.

In the following years, his international recognition grew quickly, and he worked with numerous artists, including Paule Pia, Kartsen Fricke, Marlene and Jean-Pierre Vorlet, Pierre Borhan, Anita Neugebauer and David Travis.

His first book of photography, Il teatro della vita, was published in Milan in 1981. Shortly afterwards he devoted himself fully to his work as a free-lance photographer. In 1990 he received the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the French director Jerome de Missolz made a film about him with the title Jan Saudek–Prague printemps 1990. In 2005 he published his most extensive book, SAUDEK, which was accompanied by a large retrospective exhibition in Prague.

Today, Jan Saudek is hailed as one of the most renowned Czech photographers. His work has been featured in over 400 solo and group exhibitions worldwide, and is included in the many international museum collections.

See: Birgus and Mlcoch, Czech Photography of the 20th Century, p.274.

Provenance: estate of Ted Harwell, former curator of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

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