Theodor Pištěk – Sensational realism

The catalogue Sensational Realism illustrates a unique exhibition of Pištěk’s artwork in the South Bohemian Gallery in Hluboká nad Vltavou, which focused specifically on his hyper-realistic era with a hint of his European and American comrades’ paintings. The painter was introduced in a complex overview by his pivotal and iconic works from the beginning of the 1970s till the first half of the next decade, nevertheless, he was returning to his distinctive realism until recently. In the context of Theodor Pištěk’s (born 25th October 1932 in Prague) work it’s utterly thrilling on the one hand to compare his approach to American hyperrealist Richard Estes, and on the other, to the tendencies of European painting, which are based on realism (Jacques Monory, Gerhard Richter or Gérard Gasiorowski) or they immediately follow up on realism (Gottfried Helnwein).