JAROSLAV RÖSSLER (1902-1990)

At age 14, Jaroslav Rössler became an apprentice in the Prague studio of Frantisek Drtikol (see lot 6) where he remained until 1925. He joined Devetsil, the Czech avant-garde group of painters, writers and architects headed by the artist Karel Tiege in 1923. The group's program included Constructivism, which linked it to the international avant-garde; and 'Poetism', celebrating the value of life, a specifically Czech contribution to postwar euphoria. Under the influence of Devetsil, Rössler began to create complex abstract compositions characterized by flattened geometric surfaces and constructions of light and shadow.
Created when he was only 21, Light Abstraction is a rare and sophisticated example of Rössler's work from this early period.