PRAVOSLAV SOVAK

Artist, engraver and master of drawing Pravoslav Sovak was born in 1926, Bohemia. Since the 1970s he is considered to be one of the most outstanding artists of his generation. Retrospective shows in the Kupferstichkabinett (Berlin, 1994) and Albertina (Vienna, 1998) testify to the importance of his oeuvre. Now the artist lives and works in Switzerland, Hergiswil. The Russian Museum presents the retrospective show of works by Sovak. It displays more than 200 works, including graphic sheets in different techniques as well as drawings and digital photographs on paper and aluminum. The exhibition also introduces the works created by the artist in Czechoslovakia before he left it in 1968. American have subjects prevailed in Sovak's oeuvre since the 1970s. For many years Sovak had been creating his Museum Works, one of the most important part of his oeuvre. When museums were closed Sovak arranged groups of visitors in front of the chosen exhibits and took photographs. Later these photographs became the base for the artworks with Sovak's comments on the history of art. The catalogue, published by Palace Editions and Wienand (Cologne), displays all the artworks of the exhibition. Hans-Peter Riese, curator of the exhibition, is the publisher of the catalogue as well.