About the artist:

Ladislav Karoušek was born on September 17, 1926 in Turnov and died on March 22, 1991 in Prague. 1941 - 1945 He studied at the School of Jewelery in Turnov (field of engraving of gem and glass). His professors were Z. Juna, VI. Linka, K. Tucek ad. 1946 - 1953 He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague with prof. Vl. Silovsky and M. Holý. At the end of the 1950s and early 1960s, he sought the most of his paintings in Jablonec nad Nisou and its surroundings. 1959 The first show of the M57 group was held. At the Young Exhibition in Vienna, he gained a road recognition for the painting of the "Evening Bus". 1960 Mel first independent exhibition in Prague (with brother Valerián K.) and in Jablonec nad Nisou. 1962 Paint a decorative painting for the Jablonex PZO building in Jablonec nad Nisou, the first serious realization in architecture. 1965 He was studying in Sri Lanka (Ceylon). The paintings and drawings created during the stay were exhibited at Colombo and Mahanuwere and in 1966 at the Municipal Library in Prague. 1966 Designed and co-operated with Artistic Crafts, he made a glass etched wall into the executive meeting hall of VSŽ Košice. He began to paint the surroundings of Frýdštejn. He visited Scotland. 1967 Designed and realized the decoration of the entrance hall of the Cultural House in the experimental village of Rovná in the Sokolov region. 1969 Finished and installed a decorative painting in the office building of the hangar at the Prague - Ruzyne Airport. 1977 He completed the decoration of the swimming pool in Písnice u Prahy. Several implementations were forbidden by Ladislav Karouska's communist regime. Separate exhibitions in Prague: 1960,1966,1969,1974,1976,1977, and 1980. In Jablonec nad Nisou: 1960 In Basel: 1968 In Ústí nad Labem: 1977 In Turnov: 1977 Painter Ladislav Karoušek is connected with the Jablonec and Turnov regions, but the significance of his rich lifelong work exceeds the border of the region. His contribution to the Czech, Czechoslovak art is in its ability to abstracted from the landscape in the original way, to transfer its feelings from nature to the paintings and masterfully work with paint. The artist was an older brother of a prominent sculptor and climber of the 1960s Valerian Karoušek. He graduated from the School of Jewelery in Turnov, specializing in gems and glass. In Prague he studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts at the professors Silovsky and Holý. In the 1950s, he devoted himself to civilian motifs and existential scenes influenced by the great pattern of Edvard Munch. In his work, the inspiration of the Bohemian Paradise around Jizera and the foothills of the Jizera Mountains near Jablonec nad Nisou was inspired by the early 1960s. From the beginning, he relied on realism with elements of abstraction, from which, over time, a completely abstract landscape was formed. Karoušek's paintings include feelings of nature, of its changes during the year. Ladislav Karoušek was a member of the M57 group, which grouped painters and sculptors more related to friendship than some solid artistic program. Its members were Josef Jíra, Mojmír Preclík, Jiří Novak or Jaroslav Šerých. Karoušek was the first independent exhibit in Prague in 1960. In 1965 he attended a study stay at Ceylon. This path for him was crucial and heavily influenced his next creation. Under the influence of local culture, he embraced fantastic coloring in his paintings. Until 1970, he often worked with his brother sculptor Valerian Karouska, especially on the color concept of his sculptures. Not only in Valerian's life, they also often exhibited. Karoušek has also realized many interior design solutions. For example, in 1967 he created the design and also realized the decoration of the entrance hall of the Cultural House in the experimental village of Rovná in the Sokolov region. In 1977 he completed the art decoration of the swimming pool in Písnice u Prahy. After two difficult life events, the tragic death of the wife of the sculptor Květa Kovářová (1966) and his brother (1970), he retreated into social and creative retreat. In his thoughts and occasional work he dealt with melancholic returns to childhood. In the 1980s he became fully established both artistically and socially. He devoted himself to the abstraction of the raw landscape of Jablonec and the picturesque nature of the Bohemian Paradise on which he lived.