Maria Bartuszová

Calming exhibition at Tate Modern of sculpture by Czech artist Maria Bartuszová.

This was a lovely peaceful show after the buzz and colour of Cezanne. Most of the work was made of white plaster in organic shapes displayed in white rooms. A lot it was created using plaster and balloons and I heard one man reminiscing about doing the same in school with papier-mâché.

I loved the works, in all sizes, which she called “Inside Eggs” which layered thin round platter moulds one inside the other. I also liked the large reliefs such as the one shown here with an embedded branch.

There was an interesting room on her later public works. In 1960s and 1970s Czechoslovakia it was a requirement for a certain percentage of the budget for new developments to be spent on commissioning public at art. What a great idea!

Closes 16 April 2023


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