A number of exhibited works breathe old-fashioned romance, Rodocaps adventure and western tension. Burian placed his figures in beautiful natural scenery that creates the typical tension and atmosphere that fascinates generations of admirers.
The visitor of this exhibition goes along with the author on the path of the Mohicans, follows the tracks of moccasins in the sand and the manes of wild horses swirling the dust of the Llana Estacada desert. Elsewhere, he looks into the sullen face of Chief Black Mustang, who is looking at him inquisitively from a 1968 tempera painting.
Thanks to Burian’s mastery, he can sit in a circle by the eternal fire and watch with bated breath as the Arapaho chief raises his tomahawk (1935 gouache).
Then, moving further into the middle part of the gallery, he comes to the tempera paintings of Vinnetou, the proud Apache chief, and Old Shatterhand, the brave woodsman and Vinnetou’s best friend…
Although judging by the previous lines it doesn’t look like that, in his work Burian did not specialize only in the rendering of heroes and scenes from Karl May’s books. The exhibition also includes works accompanying publications by Jules Verne, ES Vráz and František Flos.
A separate chapter then consists of illustrations for professor of paleontology Josef Augusta. Burian’s reconstructions of prehistoric giant lizards graced many books going back to a time when man did not yet exist or was a mere cameo actor in the grand theater of the world. The figures of long-extinct animals are depicted in such a way that every muscle works on them, and their protruding horns and sharp fangs exude fear.
Photo: Jan Šída, Novinky
That the author was able to capture not only adventures, but mastered classical painting disciplines as well, is proven by the oil on plywood called Self-Portrait (1937) and then especially by Dívka Primavera, a beautiful nude from 1944. This oil painting depicts his 17-year-old daughter Eva as an Art Nouveau goddess of spring with a wreath on her head and surrounded by a veil of flowers. Although the image reveals everything, it does not seem lascivious, but rather mysterious, the way the girl half covers her face with her hands.
Zdeněk Burian has always been able to open the gates of fantasy and childhood dreams through his illustrations. And even if one has matured, walking through his works presented in this exhibition, one will understand that dreams simply do not grow old. Well, thanks for them, Master Burian!
