Colour Structure

Dating from 1967, Colour Structure is a valuable work from a key period for Zdeněnk Sýkora, one of the most original painters of the latter half of the twentieth century. Sýkora became a pioneer in combining visual art and computer technology, beginning a collaboration with mathematician Jaroslav Blažek in the early 1960s to exploit the possibilities of the LGP 30 computer, which helped to generate compositional variants of his abstract structures. His work at this time was referenced in the international magazine Leonardo, which primarily focused on the relationship between art and science. This ranked Sýkora among global art innovators experimenting with digitalisation and algorithms. The 1960s were a fundamental period in the artist’s work, during which he attained his greatest degree of originality and inventiveness. During this period, Sýkora started to free himself from dependence on reality and liberated his paintings from the randomness typical of work composed only through a painter’s sensibility. Colour Structure is thus an example of this pioneering phase as well as the proof of an artistic vision that transcended the boundaries of its time. Referencing this period the author himself wrote: “For me at that time, structures meant the attainment of feeling from a well-functioning living order, after the prior uncertainty and haphazardness of painting governed only by feeling. Around 1970, I stopped finding comfort in structures. I began to be bothered by their technocratic, assured character, practically without risk.” (Letter from Zdeněk Sýkora to Jindřich Chalupecký, 1980; cited from L. Sýkorová, ed.: Zdeněk Sýkora, moje příroda [Zdeněk Sýkora, My Nature], Prague 2020, p. 9.) The listed painting Colour Structure is characteristic in its geometric precision, repetition and variable shapes, where colours intersect in a strict, yet visually dynamic rhythm. Black, grey, and lively tones of blue, green, pink, and red connect in a system of clearly defined elements, which are the result of a combination of mathematical calculations and the artist’s unique aesthetic philosophy. The openness of the structures was an important aspect of them, as a result of which the delimited surface of the canvas seems to be extracted from an interminable lattice and could continue beyond the edge of the painting. 

Sýkora became an important representative of Czech Constructivism and geometric abstraction. His work had a strong international impact and influenced further generations of artists dealing with conceptual and digital art. He became a globally sought-after artist and his work was presented at a number of solo and group exhibitions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, the United States of America, and Canada. The collector’s value of this work is increased by its presentation at the artist’s first retrospective exhibition in the Václav Špála Gallery, which was its only presentation in Czechoslovakia for many years (Zdeněk Sýkora: Showcase of Works from 1959 to 1970, Václav Špála Gallery, Prague, 19 February – 15 March 1970, see view of the exhibition). In photos from the vernissage, Colour Structure hangs in the upper left corner. Vladislav Mirvald stands in front of it, with Jindřich Chalupecký to the right, even though the exhibition was opened by Jiří Padrta. The canvas appears in the Lenka and Zdeněk Sýkora Archive in Louny under the label STR36. Assessed in consultation with Prof. J. Zemina and PhDr. K. Srp. The expert opinion of L. Sýkorová, the artist’s wife, is attached.