From Rise to Fall. Dance and Movement Studies by Jan Štursa

The sculptor Jan Štursa (1880–1925) regarded drawing as an intrinsic part of his artwork. In drawing, his initial ideas were outlined and the appearance of his finished works took shape. In 1908, Štursa progressed from idealised nudes of young girls (Puberty, 1905–1906) influenced by literary symbolism to conveying the vitalism of modern life in the firm, lissom form of the human, mainly female, body. In this regard, dance, which he could observe on Prague’s theatre stages, offered him diverse creative stimuli that found expression in both his sculptures and drawings. In his sculptures and drawings, Štursa depicted not only the real-life dancers Sulamit Rahu and Olga Gzovská but also the dynamic poses he had seen on stage, projecting them also into works of other subjects, often in surprising contexts.

Graphic Arts Cabinet – Petra Kolářová