Michael Rittstein

• 1949, CZ

Michael Rittstein is one of the leading Czech painters of the generation that emerged on the Czech art scene in the 1970s and is a member of the Free Association 12/15. From 2001 to 2018, he led the Painting III studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. He is currently opening a major solo exhibition at the Museum Kampa in Prague. The artist's expressive painting style carries a critical social potential, where various private and public rituals are subjected to irony. Rittstein's painting is characterized by a highly dynamic and compressive nature. Figures and objects are subjected to internal movement and metaphorical pressure, which elastically deforms them. His works are included in most important state and private collections, including the National Gallery in Prague.