Urban & Vysoudil Gallery is pleased to announce the preparation of a retrospective exhibition of the renowned Czech artist Václav Jíra (*December 17, 1939, Louny), which will take place in November 2026 at the Mánes Exhibition Hall in Prague.
The exhibition will present an overview of the artist’s lifelong work – from constructivist painting through kinetic objects and sculptures to landscape painting. Among the exhibits will also be works inspired by music, in which rhythm and melody become the foundation for visual compositions that develop and transform motifs from Jíra’s earlier constructivist paintings of machines and scrap metal.
Visitors will have the opportunity to view works of key significance that provide a comprehensive insight into the extraordinarily diverse and original artistic career of Václav Jíra.
Exhibition date: November 2026
Venue: Mánes Exhibition Hall, Masarykovo nábřeží 250/1, 110 00 Prague 1
Organizer: Urban & Vysoudil Gallery s.r.o.
Curators: Ing. Pavel Urban and PhDr. Rea Michalová
Václav Jíra (*December 17, 1939, Louny)
Václav Jíra is a prominent Czech painter and sculptor.
Since the 1960s, he has been creating original kinetic objects and “machines” made from metal scrap and technical components, transforming them into poetic mechanisms full of humor, movement, and surprise. Alongside this technical poetics, he has developed a distinctive constructivist painting style, in which mechanical motifs are abstracted into geometric compositions.
His work is characterized by a unique combination of artistic playfulness, optimism, and craftsmanship.
In parallel, he has long devoted himself to landscape painting, where the landscape is transformed into color fields and organic structures that convey emotional engagement and a deep sensitivity to atmosphere and mood.
Since the 1960s, Jíra has been a member of the so-called Louny Landscape School, whose leading figure was Zdeněk Sýkora, and since the 1970s, he has been a member of the Union of Czech Visual Artists.
Throughout his career, Jíra’s works have been exhibited in more than forty exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad (including Tokyo, New York, and Frankfurt).
Václav Jíra belongs among the outstanding figures of Czech modern art, uniquely combining technology and poetry into a singular artistic universe.
Exclusive preview of works from the upcoming exhibition – click here.
