Havlíček began drawing as a way of exorcising his emotional and spiritual conflicts. Working only at night, he followed a ritual reminiscent of automatic practices, working spontaneously without premeditation, as if overtaken by a spiritual force.
Born into a family of artists, Karel Havlíček studied law and became a lawyer - a career he did not like. He spent most of his life in Kadaň, in northwestern Bohemia where he married and had three children. Havlíček worked for the Czechoslovakian government during World War II. When the situation became emotionally and morally impossible for him he resigned, a political decision that marked him the rest of his life. He began drawing at this time as a way of exorcising his emotional and spiritual conflicts. Working only at night, he followed a ritual reminiscent of automatic practices, working spontaneously without premeditation, as if overtaken by a spiritual force.
After 1948, he was forced to leave his job painting dishes in a ceramics factory to become a laborer. That same year, the Czech art critic Karel Teige, a major figure in the Czechoslovak avant-garde, became interested in him and planned to organize an exhibition of his drawings, a project crushed by the political authorities. This was a profound disappointment to Havlíček who died in 1988 before knowing the freedom that came about with the Velvet Revolution in 1989.
Selected Exhibitions:
2012. Outsider Art / Gigantomachy, Outsider Art: Collection of Pavel Konecy, Karel Havlicek, Museum Montanelli, Prague, CR
1998. Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum – Duisburg, Germany
1991. Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum – Duisburg, Germany
1985. Museum Ludwig – Cologne, Germany