Tomas Rajlich
(1940)
Untitled (1977)
Signed and dated 77 on the reverse
Acrylic on canvas, 160 x 149.9 cm
Provenance:
Acquired directly from the artist by family of the present owner
Note:
Tomas Rajlich enjoyed his arts education in Prague, at the School of Decorative Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts. He trained as a sculptor and soon opted to work in the geometric vein. In 1966, he co-founded the Club Konkretistů, the Czech equivalent of Zero or Zero, which acquired him national fame.

In 1969, Rajlich decided to leave his homeland due to the Soviet Occupation and settled in the Netherlands. He started teaching at the Vrije Academie in The Hague, where he found his vocation to become a painter. When he appeared on the scene in the first half of the 1970s, he was often associated with Minimalism and Fundamental Painting, a movement which included Robert Ryman, Robert Mangold, Agnes Martin, and the early works of Brice Marden and Gerhard Richter.

For Rajlich, the grid is the measure of all things, and therefore his starting point is usually a network of horizontal and vertical lines, which he lays down and then covers with loose brushwork. The result – constructed with an exceptional feel for colour, sheen and the substance of his materials – is a painted surface in which texture and structure predominate.
* Condition report available upon request