Jiří Věneček

(31. 7. 1940)

The academic sculptor, artist and medal designer Jiří Věneček belongs among the most significant figures of Czech and Czechoslovak numismatics. Věneček took part in a first competition of the State Czechoslovak Bank for the design of a commemorative coin already in 1964. At that time he was still a student at the College of Applied Arts in Prague. Since then he has created a great many excellent designs of medals and coins for which he has received many awards. His work has been shown at more than seventy exhibitions both in the Czech Republic and abroad. He has also travelled around a large part of the world because since 1975 he has participated in world exhibitions of FIDEM – he was in Krakow, Florence, Helsinki, London, Budapest, the Hague, Weimar, Tampere, Glasgow and also in Colorado Springs.

Jiří Věneček was born in Litomyšl. Already his teachers at the elementary school noticed his exceptional talent. At their recommendation he went to the school of art crafts in Turnov where he studied cutting and engraving of precious stones. At the College of Applied Arts he was later especially influenced by the excellent designer Zdeněk Kovář and lapidarist Václav Plátek. The legendary Czech artist Jiří Harcuba, who was also his teacher, introduced him to medal making.

INTERVIEW

Which coin or medal do you value most?
The gold coin featuring the Litomyšl Chateau from the Ten Centuries of Architecture cycle is for me a matter of the heart. Therefore a coin which is associated with my native town. However, I also value medals and portraits which I really enjoyed making.

Could you name some of them?
For example, medals featuring Bohumil Hrabal, Jaroslav Seifert or Karel Koželuh. At the third international symposium of medal designers in Kremnice, where I represented the Czech Republic in 1992, I made a minted medal featuring a portrait of Josef Váchal and a cast one with Ota Pavel. Apart from them, there were also cast medals of the Landscape of Ota Pavel and the Landscape for Ron Dutton.

Have you got a clearly defined relationship to any historical period?
I think I do not have a single favourite period which I would prefer over the others. However, when I get an order, I like to get to know the theme and possibly also the specific period. I go to the archives and libraries, and I then really enjoy working on the motive. Therefore, thanks to a medal I discover historical connections.

Your last works include a medal of the Mountain Rescue Day with Skiers Hanč and Vrbata who died in the Krkonoše Mountains. Could you describe it?
The issuing council of the Prague Mint decided that the obverse side shall show the figures of both skiers. I put the memorial of Hanč and Vrbaty, which is located in the Krkonoše Mountains, on the other side. Along both sides of the central motive there are skis and under the motive there is the sign of the Mountain Rescue. I had gone to see the memorial with my own eyes, but this had been long time before I even knew that I would once make this medal. This is because I liked to ski in the Krkonoše Mountains.