Artwork of month
Cyril Bouda Dancer – figure skater, 1946

Cyril Bouda
Dancer – figure skater, 1946

stone engraving with color lithography, paper
253 x 344 mm

One of the most striking works with a sports theme in the collections of the Vysočina Regional Gallery in Jihlava is undoubtedly the graphic from 1946, entitled Dancer – figure skater. Its author is the Czech painter, graphic artist, illustrator and teacher Cyril Bouda (November 14, 1901, Kladno – August 29, 1984, Prague). He came from a family of artists (his father was a high school drawing teacher, his mother a painter from the Suchard family of sculptors).

February 2025

In 1923 he graduated from the School of Applied Arts in the studio of František Kysela and in 1926 he completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he was a student of Max Švabinský. For many years he worked as a professor at the Faculty of Education of Charles University and at the Czech Technical University, where he influenced many young artists.

Cyril Bouda left behind an extensive and diverse body of work, he was known not only as a painter, but also became famous primarily for his work in the field of book illustration and free graphics. He illustrated about 700 books, created approximately 1600 free graphic sheets, painted 400 paintings, designed posters, postage stamps, banknotes, ex-libris, but also tapestries and theater sets, and is the author of designs for two stained glass windows in St. Vitus Cathedral.

His storytelling talent, sense of detail and humorous exaggeration, fondness for the artistic past, and a sense of music and poetry, for which he was a sought-after illustrator, were also reflected in his free graphics.

He had deep knowledge and skills in various graphic techniques, initially his work was dominated by woodcuts, copperplate engravings and etchings, later by stone engraving and lithography. Over time, he interestingly expanded the possibilities of combined graphic techniques, his specialty was, for example, the combination of stone engraving with color lithography printed from three or more stones. Above all, in these color techniques, he demonstrated a sense for the beauty of line, for the layout of color areas and for the choice of color tones. It is the painter's feeling for composition, color and detail that are the most striking invitations to his romantic world.

A classic example is the above-mentioned graphic sheet with a sports theme, which characterizes the artist's subtlety, precision and sense of detail. The color scheme, executed in cold tones, is also adapted to the given motif. The stylized figure of a figure skater, executed with a simple thin line and outlined in one stroke, appears as if she is floating lightly in cones of light above the ice surface, lined with onlookers.

Much has been written about Cyril Bouda's extensive and versatile work, but a lesser-known fact is that despite his demanding workload, he also found time for sports activities. In winter, he would take part in weekend ski trips to the mountains, mostly to the Krkonoše Mountains, and in summer, he would often and happily ride his bike and admire the beauty of the Czech landscape.

Jana Bojanovská