Arnold Bartůněk

With his work, Arnold Bartůnek associates himself with the tradition of figural sculpture. The main theme of his work is the representation of the human, predominantly female, body. He currently lives and works in Litomyšl.

From 1972 to 1975 he studied stucco work at the School of Art and Craft in Prague. In 1976 he was accepted into the sculpture studio of Jiří Bradáček at the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) in Prague from which he graduated in 1982. Since then he has dedicated himself to freelance work and restoration. His arrival to Litomyšl was the result of cooperation with a group of artists lead by Olbram Zoubek with whom he participated in the renovation of the sgraffito facade of Litomyšl Chateau as a student. In 1993 he was present at the birth of the School of Restoration and Conservation Techniques in Litomyšl (today's Faculty of Restoration of the University of Pardubice), where he worked as a teacher in the following two years. Over the years, has been cooperating with foremost Czech architects, including Aleš Burian, Gustav Křivinka and Zdeňka Vydrová, architects who have distinctively influenced the present-day appearance of Litomyšl.

The main theme of Bartůněk's work is constant; the human figure, predominantly the frontal aspect of the female body. The goddess Venus, appearing throughout the history of art in numerous forms, has never ceased to be a challenge for him in fulfilling the highest ideal – the ideal of beauty. Today, he reduces the body form to basic, almost abstract, lines. Typical feature of his sculptures are fluent modelling, soft plasticity and well thought out finish to the outlines. He creates his statues from marlstone, bronze or marble, and also works with high-quality Italian Carrara marble. Occasionally, he devotes some time to drawing, which he approaches, not as if he were working on studies for statues, but as if working on an entirely independent creative process, in spite of the fact that the statues and drawings inspire each other thematically and formally.

Bartůnek's statues have become integral components of several Litomyšl buildings, either public (New Town Reception Hall, atrium at the Pedagogical College), or private (Hotel Sofia garden, numerous private houses). However, his work also adorns localities further from Litomyšl, e.g. the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Technology (VUT) in Brno or the Wine Gallery Venuše in Pavlov.
 

1995
Venus from marlstone, Hotel Sofia, Galerie Café Bar, Litomyšl

2011
Apolena, area before the Restaurant u Kolji, Litomyšl

2014
The Body of Grace, premises of the Faculty of Information Technology VUT, Brno

2014
Venetian Venus, courtyard of private residence in Benátky near Litomyšl

2005–2015
Venus at the wine gallery U Venuše, Pavlov