Rustlings and Silences

In Rustlings and Silences (sometimes known as Rustlings and Silence), dated 10 November 1961, Mikuláš Medek captures a critical moment in his creative evolution towards abstraction, preserving an essential connection to corporeal experience in the process. The work is an organic continuation of the painter’s systematic research into the polarity of noise and silence, a phenomenon permeating his work since 1950, when he created The Noise of Silence on the day Milada Horáková was executed. The acoustic motif of rustlings can be traced in his work from the early Surrealist texts up to the beginning of the 1960s (e.g. Rustlings and Silence on the Cross, 1961). This sophisticated cycle of “rustling and the noise of silence” culminates with a monumental canvas of larger dimensions and the mathematically precise title 3 604 cm² of Rustling, 536 cm² of Silence (Rustlings and silence) – (mixed media /oil, enamel / on canvas, 1961, 162 × 100 cm), which was created immediately after the listed work as its conceptual climax. Inside the blue triangle, occupying almost the entire surface of the canvas and offset from the left edge with a strip of red that creates an underlying layer, there lies a smaller and lighter irregular rectangle, which acts as a space within a space – a place of contemplative emptiness disrupted by internal impulses. The work features remarkable execution of painting as matter, which, in the author’s own words, “stands in for living tissue.” Through it, he creates a powerfully introspective testimony to trauma and the overcoming of anxiety. The canvas was created at a time when the artist was gradually abandoning figurative motifs in favour of so-called “prepared paintings” in which organic matter and the author’s engagement with it reflect an almost tangible tension, unease, and vulnerability. The surface of the canvas served as a space to record his inner experiences, with the structures shaped through techniques such as decalcomania (transferring layers of paint) and engraving. Such physical interaction with the canvas became an essential part of the painting’s very essence. Specific techniques allowed him to create unpredictable structures and random effects in harmony with his interest in the organic, living surfaces of paintings. In the early 1960s, the structure of colour became the main carrier of meaning in his paintings, which positions him among the pioneers of the Art Informel tendency in Czech art. This painting precedes a large canvas of the same name, as evidenced by a note on the verso. For the poet Jiří Kuběna (real name Jiří Paukert, 1936–2017), one of Medek’s closest friends, the work became so important that he acquired it for his collection as soon as it was completed, as demonstrated by the author’s inscription: “Mikuláš Medek, Rustlings and Silences, November 1961. Purchased 28 November and taken to Brno on 29 November 1961 by Jiří Paukert.” It was Kuběna who ranked among the first ardent advocates of Medek's work and who arranged the famous commission for the church in Jedovnice. The work has been published (J. Padrta: “Mikuláš Medek,” Výtvarné umění [Fine Art], vol. 15, no. 9, 1965, p. 395; M. Medek, Texty [Texts], Prague 1995, p. 387, a selection of Medek’s personal diaries, notebooks and correspondence; V. Effenberger: “Mikuláš Medek”, Analogon, vol. 14, no. 34–35, 2002,  p. 138; and in a monograph by B. Mráz: Mikuláš Medek, Prague 1970, p. 38, although the painting 3 604 cm² of Rustling, 536 cm² of Silence has been displayed in error under the same name). The painting was exhibited in 1999 at Bítov Castle, managed by Jiří Paukert (Mikuláš Medek: Paintings, Jan Koblasa: Sculptures, Bítov 1999, n. p.) The canvas will be included in an inventory of works currently being prepared by PhDr. E. Kosáková-Medková. Assessed in consultation with Prof. J. Zemina and PhDr. E. Kosáková-Medková, an art historian and the artist’s daughter. The expert opinion of PhDr. K. Srp is attached: “[...] This painting became an almost holy relic even in Medek’s lifetime. [...] The greatness of Medek, which no other painter active in Czechoslovakia after World War II managed to surpass, is evident in this painting. He always came up with new concepts in content and interpretation, which pushed his work to the fore [...].”