*born 26 February 1923 in Jihlava, died 16 December 2014
After graduating from the Prague Academy, he first worked as an artist at the Horácké Theater and later actively worked at the local pedagogical institute. He was a perceptive person who looked for poetic corners in the countryside and the city in which he lived. He then transferred these sensitive internal records to the canvas using a masterful technique.
At first his artistic style was impressively realistic, then he explored the various possibilities of the European avant-garde, from pointilism to expressionism to lyrical cubism. In a series of several paintings, there is a clear influence of Group 42. From the second half of the 1960s, his artistic expression strengthened - he actively transformed the perceived reality into a fantastic vision, often of a lyrical and poetic nature. He achieved this by rhythmic stylization of the composition and a sensitive combination of color shades. His sensitivity, extraordinary sense of composition and color, ability to impress the atmosphere of various distinctive nuances on the image, were also expressed in an exceptional way in his still lifes.
The Vysočina Regional Gallery in Jihlava organized a retrospective exhibition for Josef Bulant for his 90th birthday. This anniversary is commemorated at least by exhibiting (in the permanent exposition) a painting from 1984, which is an example of the painter's sensitivity and masterful ability to express the atmosphere of the place through artistic stylization.
Under the viaduct, 1984, oil on canvas, 40 x 46 cm, from the collections of the Vysočina Regional Gallery in Jihlava
Daniel Novák, February 2023