Jiří Altmann
* 28. 1. 1942 in Prague, Czech graphic artist. Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (student of V. Silovský and V. Tittelbach). 1968-1971 he worked for the publishing company Girardet in Essen, Germany. Within his generation, he has been one of the leading representatives of the Czech expressive art of woodcarving, which not only entails the robust strength which is implicated into the wood, but also the poetic implications which evolve from such ancient prints. Apart from small formatted prints he also creates generous sized monumental compositions of his symbolic-allegorical perception within the relation between humans and nature (Melancholic memory 1967, Apple blossom 1976). Using the inspiration of ancient block books from the middle ages, he allows himself to create graphic prints in which the image naturally entwines with the scriptures. Apart from his graphic works he also dedicates his art to drawing and illustrations.
Československý biografický slovník (Czechoslovakien Biographicle Dictionary) / Czechoslovakian Institute of the Czechoslovakian Academy of Science, Academia, Prag, 1992
