Oldrich Kulhanek

Kulhanek (1940-2013) was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. From 1958 he studied at the College of Applied Arts in Prague in the studio of Prof. Karel Svolinsky. In 1964, Kulhanek completed his studies with a dissertation and illustrations in a book of verses called "Dream" by Vladimir Holan.

In 1971 Kulhanek was arrested by the StB (the Czech version of KGB) and accused of sedition and defamation of the political representatives in communist countries in his graphic sheets. It was namely the "abuse" of Stalin's face in his graphic art. After a brief imprisonment, he was banned from exhibiting in his home country.

His art, unlike its author, found its way into the free world illegally. For instance, Kulhanek's graphic art was displayed in the "Hommage a Albrecht Dürer" exhibition in Nuremberg in 1971. The exhibition was organized to celebrate the anniversary of the 500th birthday of A. Dürer and Kulhanek exhibited under the pseudonym of Ulrich Böhm..

He was a phoenix reborn in the post-Communist Czech era. Perhaps the most visible artists in the Czech Republic, he was the designer of all currency now in circulation in his country, President of the State Jury of Postage Stamp Design, and President of the foundation of Hollar, the Society of Czech Graphic Artists. He was renowned for his extraordinary command of the human figure. In his hands, the figure became the outer manifestation through which the viewer could, themselves, experience the inner struggles of his subjects.