The work of sculptor Ivan Theimer (*1944), a native of Olomouc, is linked to France, where he emigrated in the autumn of 1968, and also to Tuscany in Italy. In Olomouc, you can admire Theimer’s Arion Fountain, which completes a set of 6 Baroque fountains with mythical motifs. In the summer season, it is a popular retreat for children and adults who like to refresh and relax here.
His work, which takes many cues from the works of the old masters, has found a unique place on the art scene, alongside contemporary trends. Alongside his painting and illustration work, it was his bronze castings that received international recognition. In addition to a number of public realisations in France, Italy and Germany, Ivan Theimer’s work returned to the Czech Republic in the 1990s. In 1996, the Prague Castle Administration, in cooperation with the French Institute in Prague and the Olomouc Museum of Art, organised a retrospective exhibition of sculptures and paintings by Ivan Theimer. For his native Olomouc he created the Arion Fountain on Horní náměstí, which the city has been proud of since 2002.
Ivan Theimer’s sculptural works take the form of bronze casts of various sizes – depending on the location and type of application. Repeatedly we encounter an obelisk from which a cluster of plant shapes protrudes, small animals – lizards, reptiles, crustaceans, fish, shells – scurry across its “tattooed” surface covered with various imprints. Sometimes a turtle carries the whole monument on its shell. All these elements are also typical of Arion’s fountain on Olomouc’s Horní náměstí. Its contemporary and at the same time old-world classical form fully corresponds to the historical environment in which – like in the hearts of many Olomouc residents – it immediately found its place.
