21 - Zdeněk Sýkora

Zdeněk Sýkora Linien Nr.83 1991 Oil on canvas 80 x 80 cm. Signed, dated and inscribed 'Sykora 91 GT' verso on canvas. Signed, dated and titled 'ZDENĚK SÝKORA: LINIE NR. 83 1991' on stretcher and with information on material and dimensions. - Traces of studio and minor traces of age. The present work is registered in the Lenka Sýkorová and Zdeněk Sýkora Archive, Louny. Provenance Galerie Heinz Teufel, Bad Münstereifel (1991) (adhesive label verso); Fritz Mautsch Collection, Cologne Exhibitions Göppingen 2023 (Kunsthalle Göppingen), Christa Näher, Stefan Wewerka, Georg Herold, Werke der Sammlung Mautsch Amsterdam 1991 (Art Affairs), Bad Münstereifel (Galerie Heinz Teufel), Zdenek Sýkora, exhib.cat., p.62 with col.illus. Literature Fritz Mautsch (ed.), Wissenschaft und Kunst, 22. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Transaktionsanalyse e.V., Cologne 2001, p.8 with col.illus. (rotated 90 degrees) This painting was used for the poster of Zdeněk Sýkora exhibition at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Litoměřice/Czech Republic in 1994. Lines of various colours and thicknesses sweep across the white background of “Linien Nr. 83”. A broad ultramarine-blue band crosses the upper part of the image; in the centre, a rust-red line traces a wide, U-shaped loop, while on the right, a black-blue strand gathers into a thicker cluster. In the lower section, orange, olive-green, red and brown lines overlap to form a dense network. In contrast, the lower left portion of the image remains largely open; only a salmon-pink line termination and a single grey dot provide accents here. What initially appears spontaneous and freely composed in fact follows a precisely defined system. From 1973 onwards, Zdeněk Sýkora developed his line paintings on the basis of a set of rules he had established himself: a computer program generates random numbers that determine the colour, width, direction and path of each individual line. The numbers visible in some places on the canvas refer directly to this creative process. The execution, however, is done entirely by hand – with an even application of paint, clear edges and carefully rounded line terminations. “The use of randomness is of crucial importance to my present work. […] [I now see] a higher degree of objectivity in chance. I get the feeling that randomness is a quality that offers scope for making direct contact with the universe.” (Zdeněk Sýkora in conversation with Vítek Čapek, 1986, www.zdeneksykora.cz/?language=en&s=156, accessed on 19 October 2026) The work derives its particular tension from the interplay of rules, chance and technical precision. Although each line follows a predetermined process, a barely predictable order emerges: lines intersect or converge and then separate again; some areas appear concentrated and dynamic, while others remain virtually untouched. The detail thus appears as a snapshot of a system that could continue beyond the edges of the canvas.