Catalogue of Czech Television Programmes
A documentary film about František Mertl, the Czech painter and sculptor who lives in France. He is known abroad under the surname Franta. He studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Brno and then at the Academy of Art in Prague. In 1960 he settled permanently in the south of France, where he came under the direct influence of Picasso and Chagal, his work was actually shown at their exhibitions. During the abstract period his leading theme was the human body subjects he often handled with brutal techniques. The African and American influence became very vivid at this time too, sometimes violently colourful, at other times seen in a range of black-and-white tones.František Mertl, or Franta, became one of the personalities of the so-called new figuration in France, and like František Kupka and Josef Šima he too is considered to be an artist simultaneously French and Czech.His work is represented in several dozens of the leading world museums and art galleries.
SD | 45´ | © 2004
director(s): Karel Fuksa
producer(s): Czech Television
scriptwriter(s): Jan Kříž, Danuše Nossková
director of photography: Jiří Kovář
rights available: TV, Video, Internet
original language: Czech and French
subtitles available: English
other data: French version