"Prague-based artist Zdenek Sorf’s paintings are characterized by the union of a refined, classical technique and a modern sense of irreverence. The dreamlike, surreal nature of the work is a result of the artist’s resistance to the rigid aesthetic doctrine propagated by the Communist regime in the late twentieth-century: By creating paintings rooted in fantasy rather than in political realism, Sorf was able to transcend the limitations imposed by this “official” view of art, bringing his unique vision to an international audience.

Zdenek Sorf’s whimsical portraits of canine subjects, with their distinctive postures and voluminous gowns, immediately recall the work of Diego Velázquez, and are at once playful reinterpretations and sincere homages to this Spanish master’s art. The fruit paintings likewise take a favorite old-world subject—in this case, the still life—and revive it through the use of unexpected, fanciful imagery. Bits of orange peel seem to transform, mid-air, into falling leaves; a trio of pears, rendered with great attention to realistic detail, is mysteriously covered with slips of paper Never content to rest on convention, Sorf’s paintings pull familiar motifs into strange, intriguing realms—and the slight undercurrent of humor, present in all four of these works, cannot help but charm viewers into entering these reveries along with him."

Zdenek Sorf