[CZECH SURREALISM] Vodnář v blížencích [Aquarius in Gemini]

Scarce early publication of the Czech post-war surrealist group Skupina Ra (Group Ra), containing poems by Zdeněk Lorenc and a frontispiece illustration by Josef Istler. Lorenc (1919-1999) was a noted Czech surrealist writer and a co-founder of Skupina Ra. The group's roots go back to the 1930s, but given the Nazi occupants' view of surrealism as a "degenerate art" its members were unable to publish during World War II. Unsurprisingly, the years immediately following the war saw a burst of activity, leading to the official creation of the group, which also included Josef Istler, Miloš Kořeček, Bohdan Lacina, Vilém Reichmann, Václav Tikal, and Václav Zykmund. During Husák's Normalization regime of the 1970s many of them would once again run afoul of official state aesthetics.

Istler was also a member of the CoBrA group from 1948 to 1951 and participated in the group's exhibitions. His works are widely held internationally, among others at the Stedelijk, the Centre Pompidou, and Tate Gallery.

As of March 2024, KVK, OCLC only show two copies outside the Czech Republic, one in Berlin and one in London. Scarce early publication of the Czech post-war surrealist group Skupina Ra (Group Ra), containing poems by Zdeněk Lorenc and a frontispiece illustration by Josef Istler. Lorenc (1919-1999) was a noted Czech surrealist writer and a co-founder of Skupina Ra. The group's roots go back to the 1930s, but given the Nazi occupants' view of surrealism as a "degenerate art" its members were unable to publish during World War II. Unsurprisingly, the years immediately following the war saw a burst of activity, leading to the official creation of the group, which also included Josef Istler, Miloš Kořeček, Bohdan Lacina, Vilém Reichmann, Václav Tikal, and Václav Zykmund. During Husák's Normalization regime of the 1970s many of them would once again run afoul of official state aesthetics.

Istler was also a member of the CoBrA group from 1948 to 1951 and participated in the group's exhibitions. His works are widely held internationally, among others at the Stedelijk, the Centre Pompidou, and Tate Gallery.

As of March 2024, KVK, OCLC only show two copies outside the Czech Republic, one in Berlin and one in London.