František Tichý
1896 – 1961
Frantisek Tichy was born on 24th March 1896 in Prague and died on 7th August 1961. Tichy was a Czech painter and graphic artist, significant representative of the Czech modern art.
Tichy graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. He was, however, never a member of any art movement. A staunch romantic, whose work flourished in the poetic atmosphere of circus shows (High Dressage School I. and II., Clown's Head), cabarets, cafes, city streets and peripheries. His paintings display dramatic connotation and colour sensitivity.
Under the influence of Seurant's works Tichy used the light as a medium of lyrical expression (The Escape Artist I-X). In the 1930s, his paitings expressed the urgency for psychological effect (Billiards, Colombina, The Magician with Cards, The Card Reader). Tichy painted portraits (Photographer Josef Sudek I-III, Paganini), still-life, and also illustrated (J. Arbes, Romaneta, E. Bass Circus Humberto).