Josef Kotzian

Born 1889 Ostrava ~ Died 1960 Ostrava, now Moravian/Silesian in the Czech Republic

Josef Kotzian signed his mediumistic drawings with the name of his spirit guide Solferino and was active from 1919 to his death in 1960. He was a trained engineer in Ostrava-Přívoz in the now Czech Republic and also a member of the spiritual association Bratrství in Ostrava-Radvanice.

He was a prominent member of the goup and exhibited his sublimely executed pencil monochrome drawings in the many group exhibitions that took place, especially in the 1920s and 30s. He is today considered one of the most important practitioners of mediumistic art with his art in many international collections including most recently in the KAWS Collection in America.

Stanislav J. Běloradský , an early proponent of mediumistic art said on the occasion of the Congress of Czech Spiritists in Prague “He has been drawing beautiful ornaments with most accurate and amazing fantastic flowers. He claims that he is absolutely certain that it is not him who draws them”. His work is preserved in the treasured possessions of families of spiritualists in Silesia and in South Moravia and elsewhere, most notably in the Collection of Czech Mediumistic Art.

“The imaginative power of Kotzian’s flowers and inflorescences with their disturbing “mass” leaves and fine-grained flowers, the refinement of the author’s manuscript is astonishing and thus renders his drawings one of the highlights of mediumistic expression in the field of drawing.”

Selected Exhbitions:
2025 ~ Tranceducers at the GPS Gallery, London
2020 ~ The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism and The Cosmic Tree, Camden Art Centre in London
2019 ~ The Medium’s Medium, The Gallery of Everything (London) 2019
2008 ~ Art Brut in the Czech Lands curated by Alena Nádvorníková for the Olomouc Museum of Art in conjunction with the Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb.
2005 ~ L´art Exhibition Spirite ~ Lausanne