Alois Bilek (Czech, 1887-1960)

Alois Bilek was Czech painter. He graduated from the gymnasium in 1906 and moved to Prague where he first completed two semesters at the technical university and then transferred to the Academy of Fine Art. At the Academy, he was taught by Max Pirner. He successfully completed his studies at the Academy in 1912. A year later he was awarded a scholarship which allowed him to travel through Holland and Belgium to Paris, where he remained until 1928. Between 1913 and 1928 under the influence of František Kupka, Alois Bilek’s work began to turn toward abstraction. With his return to Prague, however, he also returned to his particular realist style. Alois Bilek mainly painted genre scenes, still lifes, and portraits (a famous one is of the French poet Jean de Gourmond).

The artist was fascinated by colour, he continuously explored and experimented with various effects of colour. Symbolist renderings of the female body are also richly represented in his body of work. At the height of his creative career, his paintings remain true to the tenets of classical form and volume while emphasizing the physical qualities of colour and its effect on the human psyche.