Frantisek Drtikol
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encyclopedia)
Frantisek Drtikol (1883-1961) was a
Czech photographer of international renown. He is especially known for his
characteristically epic photographs, often nudes and portraits.
From 1907 to 1910 he had his own studio, until 1935 he operated an
important portrait photostudio in Prague on the fourth floor of one of
Prague's remarkable buildings, a Baroque corner house at 9 Vodickova, now
demolished. Drikol made many portraits of very important people and nudes
which show development from pictorialism and symbolism to modern composite
pictures of the nude body with geometric decorations and thrown shadows,
where it is possible to find a number of parallels with the avant-garde
works of the period. There are reminiscent of Cubism and at the same time
his nudes suggest the kind of movement that was characteristic of the
futurism aesthetic. He began using paper cut-outs in a period he called "photopurism".
These photographs resembled silhouettes of the human form. Later he gave
up photography and concentrated on painting. After the studio was sold
Drtikol focused mainly on painting, Buddhist religious and philosophical
systems. In the final stage of his photographic work Drtikol created
compositions of little carved figures, with elongated shapes, symbolically
expressing various themes from Buddhism. In the 1920s and 1930s, he
received significant awards at international photo salons. Drikol has
published: "Le nus de Drikol" (1929), "Zena ve svetle"(Woman in the
light)(1938). Sources: Anna Farova, "Frantisek Drtikol. Photograph des Art
Deco", 1986. Vladimir Birgus, "Drtikol. Modernist Nudes", 1997. Vladimir
Birgus and Jan Mlcoch, "Akt v Czech Photography", 2001. Alessandro
Bertolotti, "Books of nudes", 2007.
