František Jaroslav Pecka
Born March 10 1878 Neveklov, Czech Republic ~ Died June 15 1960 or 63 Bechyné, Czech Republic
“I am in awe of the wealth of Asian motifs. No less wondrous is the certainty of the drawing with which the technically difficult challenges are easily overcome. Colours portray true oriental richness. They are unique in their kind, highly original. It can’t be the property of your brain. For me it is proof of an artist completely outside of you.” Alfons (Alphonse) Mucha describing the drawings of František Jaroslav Pecka
Pecka graduated from a grammar school in Prague to pursue a career in teaching which began in 1897 and lasted for more than 40 years. In his spare time he enjoyed studying nature and after a stay in Kosor where he discovered rare or fossils from Silurian and Devonian limestones he devoted himself to palaeontological research. His collection aroused the interest of scientific scholars, from home and abroad, which led to the classification of completely new families of cartilaginous fish from black Kosor marble. The National Museum has 36 beautifully preserved fragments of these unique pieces, and Pecka was appointed a correspondent member of the Natural Science Corps of the National Museum. His unique gastropod, stored in a showcase in the Barrande Museums, bears the name: Hercynella Peckai in his honour. It is the only specimen of the Branik limestone in Kosor. At an exhibition in Zbraslav in 1906 he was rewarded with a silver medal with an artistic diploma for the exhibited archive.
Pecka was also a writer. For young teenagers he wrote: Young geologist, Wonder of a Prawn, In the footsteps of a Mammoth and In the depths of age. He contributed to several mainstream magazines and was a member of the Metapsychic Society in Prague where he wrote a series of valuable and objective lectures and articles on psychic subjects. One of these stated that Pecka “fought for truth and purity in full conviction of the existence of the afterlife and communication with those who seemingly abandoned the death of the physical body.”
He attended séances and experiments with world renowned mediums including Janusz Fronczek, Maria Silbert, Willy and Rudi Schneider. Although an ardent psychical investigator, Pecka is best known today for his beautiful automatic drawings which were rediscovered around 2015. In 1948, at the age of 70, there were nearly 300 large pastel drawings of which around 150 still survive today. As well as these intricate and ornately decorated heads in pencil and crayons there were a series of enigmatic abstract designs that are akin to finger painting.
Pecka’s work can also be found in the collections of the Gallery of Everything and the Henry Boxer Gallery
Selected Exhibitions:
1920s ~ Topic Salon, Narod
1920s ~ Smichov House (probably the National House of Schimov)
1920s ~ Clam-Gallas Palace, Prague
1927 ~ National Spiritist Congresses in Paris, London and other Eurpoean cities.
1927 ~ Congress of Czechoslovakian Spiritists ~ German Art House, Brno
2018 ~ Duende ~ Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York
2018 ~ Outsider Art Fair Paris ~ Cavin-Morris Gallery, Paris
2019 ~ Art & Spirit: Visions of Wonder ~ The College of Psychic Studies, London
2019 ~ The Medium’s Medium ~ The Gallery of Everything, London
2020 ~ Not Without My Ghosts: Artisrt as Medium ~ Drawing Room, London and other touring venues
2023 ~ Transcendents ~ Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York
2023 ~ Escaping Reality: Art Brut from Czechia ~ The Czech Center, New York
2024 ~ Transendants II ~ Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York
2025 ~ A Vanished Wholeness ~ Modern Art Gallery, Paris
2025 ~ Tranceducers ~ Great Pulteney Street Gallery, London