Artist and Educator Boris Jirků Dies at 70

Painter, sculptor, illustrator, and a prominent figure in Czech art education. Zlín-born Boris Jirků also taught figure drawing and painting at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at UWB in Pilsen. Colleagues remember him for his talent, dedication, and sharp sense of humor.

Artist and educator Boris Jirků has passed away at the age of 70. The news was confirmed by one of his close colleagues from the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art (FDA) in Pilsen. n recent years, Jirků taught figure drawing and painting there, while also serving as head and supervisor of the master’s and doctoral programs in classical media at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica.

Boris Jirků was also the initiator and long-time organizer of the international FIGURAMA project, which showcases student works from fifteen universities across Europe and the USA and has long tracked approaches to figurative art. He himself worked in drawing, painting, graphic art, illustration, wooden and metal sculpture, and art installations in public spaces. He also participated in dozens of collective exhibitions at home and abroad, and his distinctive style - dynamic figures, energetic lines, and striking colors - is instantly recognizable.

For Boris Jirků, drawing was not just a technique, but also a philosophy and a way of understanding the world. According to his colleagues at FDA, he devoted himself to his students with tireless energy, meticulous care, and a good dose of humor. His legacy thus lies not only in his artworks, but above all in the inspiration and guidance he provided to generations of artists fortunate enough to know him.

For Boris Jirků, drawing was not just a technique but also a philosophy and a way of understanding the world. According to his colleagues at FDU, he dedicated himself to his students with tireless energy, meticulous care, and a good dose of humor. His legacy thus lies not only in his artworks but above all in the inspiration and guidance he provided to generations of artists fortunate enough to know him.

Boris Jirků was born on April 10, 1955, in Zlín. He studied at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Uherské Hradiště and the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in the studio of Professor Arnošt Paderlík. He then devoted a significant part of his professional life to teaching figural drawing and painting. Before he began teaching at UWB, he worked for seventeen years at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, briefly also as its rector.