profile

Rudolf Riedlbauch was born June 14th, 1944 in a small town called Dysina outside of Plzen, and grew up in Strakonice, in Southern Bohemia. He attended the musical department at the primary school for the arts, and played the clarinet for the chamber orchestra and the bagpipe orchestra. His artistic talent showed itself at a very young age, and it quickly became obvious that his calling was that of a painter, with music a permanent form of inspiration in many of his works throughout his life.
    In 1962, Rudolf Riedlbauch was accepted to AVU (Academy of Fine
Arts) in Prague, where he studied under Professor Frantisek Jiroudek
at the special School of Figural Landscape. At the time, the school
organized yearly study abroad programs, internships, and exchange
programs, and Rudolf had the chance to visit Belgium, Holland, Russia,
East Germany, and Georgia. His trip to Italy in 1965 was his biggest
influence however, as he had the chance to get better acquainted with
works from the Italian renaissance. He was fascinated with frescoes
by Piero della Francesca in Arezzo, and was also strongly influenced
by artists from the Baroque period such as V.V. Reiner, P.J. Brandl
and F.A. Maulbertsch, whom also happened to have spent time in
the Czech Republic and Moravia.
    In 1968 he finished his studies at the academy and entered into
the wide current of Czech artistic life as a painter with significantly
defined opinions, applying himself towards a renewed interest in figural
 creation whose content depicts a multi-sided display of a person who
determines his/her own actions and transformations throughout life.
    Both the professional and layman have been familiarizing
themselves with his paintings at many exhibitions or at regularly
organized nationwide shows, impressing upon the onlooker their
colorful, expressive combinations and dramatic scenes. A characteristic
of his style is a reduction of shapes into smaller pieces that resemble
a kaleidoscope, boosting the dynamics of the chosen subject matter
and more easily evoking the viewer‘s own memories and impressions.
Art critics value his expressive spontaneity, impressive use, love, and
respect towards color as a fundamental medium for expression.
    One of his most important inspirations has been and always will be
music, something that has been a part of not only his life but his
siblings lives as well, as all are highly recognized musicians. His
paintings usually portray individual musicians playing the violin or
the flute, a group of musicians, or singers. Other themes of his
paintings include scenes from fairs, celebrations, the circus or
the theater. His paintings have a strong musical character not only
due to music being the subject matter, but also because of
the loudness the colors portray, the musicality, and eventual rhythm
of the entire composition.
    Another source of inspiration for Rudolf Riedlbauch‘s work is
nature – a theme that developed after he built a studio in an old
cottage situated outside of Prague near the town of Blatna. His large
canvases depict colorful landscapes, scenes of local streams, rivers,
ponds and lakes, trees, shrubs, and flowers. Many of his paintings
were created during his travels and extended stays abroad, most
notably from countries around the Mediterranean Sea or from
Schwarzwald (The Black Forest) in neighboring Germany.
    Rudolf Riedlbauch has also been attracted by the possibilities
of Monumental Art and it’s realization in architecture. It is in this area
that his talent for generalized intellect and conformity of many
particular events in life-and ability to subordinate his work to
the overall rule of architecture-has really shown, with content and
specific color combinations being the finishing touches. His most
famous works can be found at the entrance to the Chamber of
Deputies of the Czech Republic, inside buildings of several universities
throughout Prague, or paintings on facades of apartment blocks in
Trnava, Slovakia. He has worked on similar projects in Germany.
    His first independent show took place in 1966 in Strakonice while
he was still a student of AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague, and
he has been displaying his work-whether alone or as part of
a group-ever since. He regularly displays his work together with
a group called „Tolerance 95“. While still a student, his paintings were
chosen to be shown in art schools in Mexico and later at various
exhibitions of fine art, e.g. at the fall salon in Paris in 1983. He has
shown his work in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Austria, The Netherlands,
Belgium, France, Italy, Finland, Germany, Iraq and Brazil.
    Continuity of artistic opinion and expression are characteristics
of his work, manifesting themselves as a wide and continuous current
integrating the painter’s artistic efforts across individual themes and
time periods. Rudolf Riedlbauch’s exquisite, racy, content-rich and
colorful works of art are very distinct and individualized within
the world of contemporary art today.

                                                                             PhDr. Dusan Sedlacek
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