Born in 1944 in Prague, Czech Republic, Lukáš Kándl started his pursuit in oil painting at the Prague College of Art from 1959 to 1963. He conitinued his graduate stuy at the Prague Academy of Applied Art (1963 to 1969). In 1969, Lukáš received his Masters from the Academy of Fine Arts. He then continued refining his skills following French and Dutch painters.  His professional experience took him to France and Holland as part of his study tour. In 1975, he acquired French citizenship and settled in France. Currently, his studio is located in Saint-Germain en Laye, France, where he resides with his family.

Awards

Lukáš Kándl’s talent has been celebrated with many distinctions including the Bronze Palm at the Art Festival in Bruxelles (1973) and the Price of National Counsel at the International Art Competition in Monte Carlo (1987). That same year  he was elected Secretary of the Paris “Salon d’Automne” and has been an Honorary Member of the Copley Society in Boston since 1988. In 1992 he was Guest of Honor at the International Art Festival in Osaka.

Since 2002, he is the head of the surrealistic/visionary group of the French “Salon Comparaisons” in Paris.  Kándl won the Silver medal at the French Artists’ Art Fair in Paris (2005).

Kándl’s paintings are in numerous private collections in Germany, Australia, Belgium, the United States of America, France, The Netherlands, Hong-Kong, Italy, Japan, Morocco, the Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

“My painting is somewhere between surrealism and fantastic, a mix of strange and magic. I like to think that, in an other life, I was leaving in Prague, as someone in charge of Rudolf II’s fabulous collection in which you could find, for example, astrological tools, potions to make gold, the philosophal stone, impenetrable manuscripts full of VITRIOL formula. There were also strange beasts that I especially love.”

His work is inspired by fantastic and surrealistic art, rendered with a classical Old Masters technique, drawing upon literature, poetry, and also biblical and esoteric subjects.

“I create very realistic but always a bit shift from the ordinary reality details. I think it is very important that everybody can recognize a reality with which he can deal, but I want my paintings to trigger a personal journey through the dream domain or an unusual situation.”

Libellule

Kándl also organises regular exhibition projects with his wife Françoise, for the Libellule artist group. Together with his wife Françoise, they edited and published the book “Libellule Renaissance Contemporaine“ which covers the all of the group’s exhibtions and participating artists thus far.