Josef Liesler (1912-2005)

STRANGE JUDGES

1945
Colour lithograph on paper with blind stamp "ELK" (lower left), 29,8x40 cm, sheet 41,8x51 cm, signed and dated lower right under the print in pencil "Liesler 45". Unnumbered (with 300 numbered issued copies). In 1944, Josef Liesler first presented his paintings of Strange judges. Like his paintings of Salome from the same period, they represent the culmination of his wartime allegories. Creased upper edge of the sheet - mostly outside the image area. Josef Liesler studied drawing with Cyril Bouda and Oldřich Blažíček, he was a member of the art group Sedm v říjnu, SVU Mánes or SČUG Hollar, and was a founding member of Skupina 58. He received a number of awards and recognition in the field of artistic postage stamps, including the UNESCO award for the most beautiful stamp of the year. Josef Liesler`s entire work is strongly inspired by Surrealism, often citing famous works by Francisco Goya and Salvador Dali. He describes his work as a fantasy reality, he combining the present time with historical memory, memories with fantasy, melancholy with humour, literature references with the visual variety of the image.