Frantisek Drtikol Czechoslovakian, b. Austria-Hungary, 1883-1961 In 1898 Frantisek Drtikol, one of the best-known Czech photographers of the early 20th century, became an apprentice in a photographic studio in his hometown of P íbram. He then studied portraiture at the Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Photographie (Teaching and Research Institute for Photography), Munich (1901-3), where he was exposed to the ideas of the symbolist and art nouveau (Jugendstil) movements. After serving in the Austro-Hungarian army, Drtikol worked as an assistant in several photographic studios before opening a successful portrait studio in Prague in 1910. He soon became known for his soft-focus portraits of prominent writers, artists, and aviators. In the late 1910s, Drtikol's style shifted from soft-focus pictorialism to a modernist approach emphasizing light and form. He also began an ongoing study of the female nude, the work for which he is best known. In these new images Drtikol incorporated expressionistic lighting effects such as harsh spotlights to produce dramatic cast shadows. He also used props and backdrops with angular shapes and undulating outlines, creating striking designs with an art deco look. A book of these photographs, Les Nus de Drtikol (1929), was published in Paris. The next year he turned from nude studies to photographic compositions made of figures cut from wood or cardboard. In 1935 Drtikol retired from photography to concentrate on painting and Eastern philosophy. M.M.