Jan Saudek

The recorded working language is Slovak and Czech. The field of work recorded is painting. Places of work recorded in the authority are Prague. Work by Jan Saudek is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Victoria, Photography Collection and J. Paul Getty Museum. Distinctions recorded are Artis Bohemiae Amicis Medal, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and Czech Medal of Merit, 1st class.

• Name — Jan Saudek • Born — 13 May 1935 • Birthplace — Prague, Czechoslovakia • Occupation — Art photographer, painter • Notable Works — The World of Jan Saudek: Photographs, Jan Saudek-Il teatro de la vita, Story from, Czechoslovakia, My Country, and Photographs by Jan Saudek

Saudek and his twin brother Karel (also known as Kája) were born to a Slavic (Czech) mother and Jewish father in Prague in 1935. Their mother's family came to Prague from Bohemia, and their father from the city of Děčín in the northwest part of that area. During World War II and after the invasion of the German Nazis, both sides of his family were racially persecuted by the invaders. Many of his Jewish relatives died in Theresienstadt concentration camp during the war. Their father Gustav was deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp in February 1945. Although their mother and many other relatives died, both sons and father survived the war. A Communist-dominated government gained power after the war to rule the country, enforced by the Soviet Union and considered to be behind the Iron Curtain. According to Saudek's biography, he acquired his first camera, a Kodak Baby Brownie, in 1950. He apprenticed to a photographer, and in 1952 started working in a print shop; he was restricted to this work by the Communist government until 1983. In 1959, he started using the more advanced Flexaret 6x6 camera, and also engaged in painting and drawing. After completing his military service, he was inspired in 1963 by the catalogue for American photographer Edward Steichen's The Family of Man exhibition, and began to work to become a serious art photographer. In 1969, Saudek traveled to the United States, where he was encouraged in his work by curator Hugh Edwards of the Art Institute of Chicago. Returning to Prague, Saudek had to work at his photography clandestinely in a cellar, to avoid the attentions of the secret police. With his work turning to themes of personal erotic freedom, he used implicitly political symbols of corruption and innocence. From the late 1970s, he became recognized in the West as the leading Czech photographer, and also developed a following among photographers in his own country. In 1983, the first book of Saudek's work was published in the English-speaking world. The same year, he became a freelance photographer; the Czech Communist authorities allowed him to stop working in the print shop, and gave him permission to apply for a permit to work as an artist. In 1987, the archives of his negatives were seized by the police, but later returned. During the 2000s Saudek lost all his photo negatives in a dispute with a former partner. The pictures were managed and displayed by Saudek.com, his son’s company, against Jan’s will. In 2012 High Court in Prague invalidated contracts between Jan and Saudek.com, effectively returning control over the works to the artist. Saudek lives and works in Prague. His brother Kája Saudek was also an artist, the best-known Czech graphic novelist.

• Illustration — Poster for a film by Adolf Zika: Jan Saudek: Bound by Passion (2008). His best-known work is notable for its hand-tinted portrayal of painterly dream worlds, often inhabited by nude or semi-nude figures surrounded by bare plaster walls or painted backdrops. He frequently re-uses elements (for instance, a clouded sky or a view of Prague's Charles Bridge). In this his photographs suggest the studio and tableaux works of mid-19th century erotic photographers, as well as the works of the 20th-century painter Balthus, and of Bernard Faucon. Saudek's early art photography is noted for its evocation of childhood. His later works often portrayed the evolution from child to adult (re-photographing the same composition/pose, and with the same subjects, over many years). Religious motifs and the ambiguity between man and woman have also been some of Saudek's recurring themes. During the 1990s, his work at times generated censorship attempts in the West because of its provocative sexual content. Saudek's imagery has sometimes had a mixed reception internationally. He gained early shows in 1969 and 1970 in the United States. In Australia, in June–July 1977 his work was welcomed by curator Jennie Boddington at the National Gallery of Victoria, who sent the show to the Australian Centre for Photography in August, in the Centre's third year. Both shows were accompanied by the same exhibition of four young Australian photographers. Jan Saudek: Story from Czechoslovakia, My Country, then appeared again in Melbourne at Church Street Photographic Centre in December and was reviewed favourably by women's activist Beatrice Faust. Shepparton Civic Centre showed Photographic images 1956-1981 by Jan Saudek in June–July 1982, followed by Benalla Art Gallery in September 1982. Decades later, by contrast, his photograph Black Sheep & White Crow, which features a semi-naked pre-pubescent girl, was removed from the Ballarat International Foto Biennale in Victoria, Australia just before the opening on 21 August 2011; objections had been made related to allegations of child prostitution for his subject. Saudek's photographs have been featured as covers for the albums of Anorexia Nervosa (New Obscurantis Order), Soul Asylum (Grave Dancers Union), Daniel Lanois (For the Beauty of Wynona), Rorschach (Remain Sedate), and Beautiful South (Welcome to the Beautiful South).

1963 • Divadlo Na zábradlí, Prague, Czech Republic 1969 • Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 1976 • Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL • Jacques Baruch Gallery, Chicago, IL 1977 • Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, Australia • National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia • RIP, Arles, France 1978 • Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH 1979 • G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1980 • FNAC - Montparnasse, Paris • photokina, Cologne, Germany 1981 • Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH • Jacques Baruch Gallery, Chicago, IL • Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery, New York 1984 • Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 1985 • Münchner Stadtmuseum, München, Germany 1986 • Centre national de la photographie, Paris • Photography Forum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany 1987 • Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris 1989 • Photography Forum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany • Jan Kesner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1990 • Robert Koch Gallery, Los Angeles, CA • Gallery Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan • RIP, Arles, France 1991 • Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris • Portfolio Gallery, London 1992 • Galerie Municipale du Chateau d'Eau, Toulouse, France 1993 • Month of Photography, Palffy Palace, Bratislava, Slovakia 1994 • Parco Gallery, Tokyo 1995 • A Gallery for fine photography, New Orleans, LA 1996 • Museum of Art, Olomouc, Czech Republic 1997 • Museo Ken Damy, Brescia, Italy • Paris Photo, Krišal Gallery, Paris 1998 • Bergamot Station Art Center BGH Gallery, Santa Monica, CA • Municipal House in Prague, Czech Republic • The Museum of Photography, Tel-Hai, Israel 1999 • Paris Photo Gallery Mennour, Paris • VB Photographic Centre, Kuopio, Finland 2000 • Carousel de Louvre, Paris Art Gallery Mennour, Paris 2001 • Comenius Museum, Naarden, Netherlands • University of Nottingham 2003 • Broel Museum • Biennale de Venise, Italy • FIAC, Galerie K. Mennour, Paris • Krišal Gallery, Geneve, Switzerland 2004 • Krišal Gallery, Geneve, Switzerland • Lattuada Studio Gallery, Milan, Italy 2005 • House White Unicorn, Prague, Czech Republic • Gallery of Photography Past Rays, Japan • K. Mennour Gallery, Paris 2006 • International fotobienále, 6th edition, Moscow, Russia • IN FOCUS Gallery, Cologne, Germany 2007 • Galerie Jan Saudek, Prague, Czech Republic 2008 • Velvet Gallery, Bojnice, Slovakia • Royal Palace (along with JPWitkinem (Joel-Peter Witkin?)), Milan, Italy 2009 • Gallery Velvet Kelly, Žilina, Slovakia • Monopoli-Castello Carlo V., Italy 2010 • Fotografija Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia • Fotofestival Nordic Light, Kristiansund, Norway • Kunsthandel gallery, Graz, Austria • Nordic Light (int. Festival of photography) Kristiansund, Norway • Fotografia Galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia 2011 • Chamber Gallery U Schell, Budweis, Czech Republic • Visio Art Gallery, Plzeň • Mondo Bizzarro Gallery, Rome, Italy • Phototheatron, Athens, Greece • Galerie Esther Woerdehoff (group exhibition), Paris • Ballarat Int. Photo Biennale, Melbourne, Australia 2012 • Int. Photofestival Spillimbergo & Udine, Italy Centres of Art, Tarnow, Poland 2013 • Blatenský Fotofestival, Blatná, Czech Republic • Galerie Malá Synagoga, Trnava, Slovakia 2015: Valeria Rabbit Hole Art Room, Warsaw, Poland 2020: Malostranská beseda, Prague, Czech Republic

Jan Saudek is recorded as having received Artis Bohemiae Amicis Medal, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and Czech Medal of Merit, 1st class.