JIRI ANDERLE "SUPER EGO - MAN AND WOMAN" COMEDY NO.11, c.1969

JIRI ANDERLE "SUPER EGO - MAN AND WOMAN" COMEDY NO.11, c.1969

$750.00

To zoom in, click on each image and mouse over.

Description:

Edition: 50/50 - From Series: Comedy No.11
Etching
Date: c.1969
Signed Lower Center
Sheet: 19 x 25 inches (48.3 x 63.5cm)
Framed: 28 x 33 inches (71.1 x 83.8 cm)
Condition: Minor spots of mold on paper
Framed under glass

The Artist: Jiří Anderler (Czech, 1936)

Jiří Anderle is a celebrated Czech painter and graphic artist who continues to live and work in Prague. Born in Pavlíkov, Czechia, in 1936, Anderle pursued academic training in painting and graphic arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, graduating in 1961. Shortly after his studies, his worldview was profoundly shaped by a seven-year stint touring globally as an actor and mime with the famous Black Light Theatre of Jiří Srnec. This period inspired him to view human existence as a massive, theatrical stage—a concept known as Theatrum mundi—and allowed him to study diverse cultural traditions, including the ethnic art of Africa and Oceania, which later influenced his work.

Technically brilliant and deeply philosophical, Anderle is renowned for his mastery of intricate intaglio printmaking methods, such as etching, drypoint, and mezzotint. His delicate, ghostly representations of the human form frequently draw comparisons to the anatomical sketches of Leonardo da Vinci, blending Old Master precision with surrealist, existential themes. His artwork directly confronts human mortality, vulnerability, and the absurdity of conflict, as seen in his powerful graphic sequence Cruel Game for a Man. Over the decades, his aesthetic evolved from highly dense, illusionistic depictions in the 1970s and 1980s toward more minimalist, abstract expressions.

Jiří Anderle’s prominent artwork cycles function as expansive, multi-year philosophical inquiries into the human condition, with his early career reaching a major creative and critical turning point around 1969. This pivotal year was defined by his breakthrough Comedy (Komedie) series, created between 1965 and 1971, which earned him international renown and established his unique aesthetic fusion of psychoanalysis, theatricality, and old-master precision. Drawing directly from his seven years touring with the Black Light Theatre of Jiří Srnec, Anderle used the structural foundation of the Comedy cycle to explore Theatrum mundi, or the "Theatre of the World." Rather than depicting lighthearted humor, the "comedy" in these works is dark, absurd, and existential, revealing how individuals are forced to play rigidly defined societal roles while masking their underlying anxieties, vulnerability, and mortality behind historical or theatrical costumes.

Created in 1969, Comedy No. 11: Super Ego (often titled Superego - Muž) represents a deeply psychological peak within this cycle. Executed using a masterful blend of color etching, drypoint, and mezzotint, the piece shifts the series' focus inward toward Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic frameworks, visualizing the internal tension between primal human desires and the oppressive, moralizing forces of societal authority. Visually, the print showcases Anderle's signature "ghostly" figural style, rendering figures with the precise lines of historical anatomical sketches reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci. These figures are warped into surreal, multi-layered, or skinless entities, stripping away the physical facade to reveal a fractured human psyche trapped within the cages of societal expectations.

The year 1969 was highly critical for Anderle not just thematically, but structurally, as he left active theater touring to work as an assistant at the College of Applied Arts in Prague. Simultaneously, 1969 marked the beginning of his representation by the Jacques and Anne Baruch Gallery in Chicago. This vital American connection allowed deeply critical, psychological works like Comedy No. 11 to bypass the restrictive cultural iron curtain of communist Czechoslovakia and find a permanent home in major international art collections.

Today, Anderle is recognized as one of the most prominent Czech artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with his works exhibited internationally alongside timeless masters like Rembrandt and Picasso. His art resides in top global institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Despite facing censorship from the Czechoslovak communist regime, which suppressed media coverage of his international successes, he maintained close ties with key dissidents like Václav Havel. Honored with the Czech Republic's Medal of Merit in 2006, he remains a living legend of imaginative realism.

The Story: From a private collector in Toronto.

Shipping Information: Packaging and shipping within Canada is $200. At checkout, you will have the option to insure your purchase for shipping at up-to-$500; you will be able to select the option you prefer from the drop down menu. International shipping available. If located in the Greater Toronto Area, no charge for shipping and packaging if picked up from Wall Fiction's office; call before purchasing.

Terms: All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges. See "Buy Art" in the main menu for more information.