Josef Šíma (18 March 1891 – 24 July 1971) was a Czech modernist painter.
After graduating from Academy of Arts inPrague, where he was a student ofJan Preisler, Šíma was involved in theDevětsil movement and in the artists' forumUmělecká beseda in Prague before travelling to Paris in 1921. He became a French citizen in 1926. He was the artistic director for the journalLe Grand Jeu in 1929 and a friend of the French poetsRené Daumal,Roger Gilbert-Lecomte, andRoger Vailland.
Šíma's sources of inspiration ranged from sensual experience, through civil themes,geometric abstraction, imaginative seeking of archetypes of nature, objects, and human existence pictured ascrystals, acosmic egg, and femaletorsos, to fascination with landscapes and mythology, until he finally united all these elements and created a synthesis of them in cosmic visions and symbols of human destiny.
He exhibited atDocumenta 2 in 1959. He also illustrated many books, made book covers andscenic paintings, and designedstained glass windows (e.g., for Saint James's Church inReims).
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
 | This article about a Czech painter is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
