Josef Vohrabal – Geometry of Movement

Art Palace Prague presents a retrospective exhibition of Brno-based painter and musician Josef Vohrabal (1908–1994), one of the most remarkable yet unjustly overlooked figures of Czech post-war modernism. The exhibition runs until 31 August 2026. Although his work is represented in major institutions such as the National Gallery in Prague and the Moravian Gallery in Brno, Vohrabal spent most of his life in seclusion in his basement studio. The selection of works opens with realistically conceived female nudes, in which one can trace a gradual transformation from figuration to formal stylization inspired by the Brno art scene and the circle of painters Bohumír Matal and Jánus Kubíček. The painter worked systematically in carefully conceived thematic cycles, whose final composition he always meticulously prepared in his pastel studies. A decisive turning point in the artist's development came in 1973, when he replaced oil painting with encaustic technique – working with hot wax allowed him to achieve a unique depth and "vibration" of the painted surface. Josef Vohrabal thus arrived at a purely modern expression, in which reality shatters into dynamic geometric signs. The opening of the exhibition was accompanied by art historian PhDr. Viktor Jasaň and a musical programme by Slovak singer Rob Opatovský. The gallery is located in a historic Neo-Renaissance building of the former Trade Bank at Na Příkopě 20, Prague-New Town.