Zbyněk Fojtů

(7. 8. 1963)

The academic sculptor Zbyněk Fojtů belongs to the younger generation of Czech medal makers. Since 1992 he has been working as a teacher at the Václav Hollar Secondary School of Fine Arts in Prague. He started to devote himself to the design of coins and medals in 2002 when he was enthralled by the bas-relief technique. Although he has been active as a medal maker for a relatively short time, his successes are significant and numerous. He can boast of many awards in competitions announced by the Czech National Bank. Almost twenty of his designs from various customers have been already produced. They include for instance the Coronation of Czech Kings cycle of the Prague Mint or the commemorative medal on the six hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the cornerstone laying for the Charles Bridge and many other gold and silver masterpieces. The artist studied at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Uherské Hradiště, and then graduated at the College of Applied Arts in Prague. His college professor was the legendary Czech designer Zdeněk Kovář.

Zbyněk Fojtů was born in Slavičín in Moravia, and up to the age of twenty- five he lived in Valašské Klobouky. Currently he lives with his wife and two daughters in Černošice near Prague. He has got his studio there and he devotes himself there not only to numismatic designs but also to free artistic production. Apart from the Czech Republic he most frequently exhibits particularly in Germany and France.

INTERVIEW

You started with medal making relatively late. What brought you to competitions in designs of commemorative coins?
I really began relatively late. A friend of mine told me about offers which he was getting. They included conditions for participation in these competitions. Sometimes in 2002 I decided that I could try it and I entered a competition for designing a coin for the anniversary of the traveller Emil Holub. I found out that I enjoyed this work very much. Two years later I won a competition for a bimetallic coin at the occasion of the entry of the Czech Republic in the European Union. This encouraged me and since then I have been regularly participating in these competitions.

You are the author of the gold commemorative medal on the six hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the cornerstone laying of the Charles Bridge in Prague. This medal was minted also in an impressive one-kilogram version. How do you feel when you see your idea impressed into such a large piece of pure gold?
It is a fantastic feeling. It was my first production outside of the competitions organized by the Czech National Bank, and it made me particularly happy. At that time I was contacted by the numismatic distribution company Zlaté mince – Numismatika which chose this design for the medal and had it minted. We are still cooperating. I can mention, for example, the Coronation of Czech Kings series which is minted by the Prague Mint at present. Charles IV was the first one, it was followed by George of Poděbrady, Ottokar I, Wenceslaus II, Vratislaus II and the series still loosely continues.

What is your relationship to history?
It is a very close relationship. I like the period of antiquity, and before that I was interested in Egypt, Mesopotamia and ancient Greece. My favourite periods include also the time when the Czech state was founded, that is, the time from the first Přemyslids up to the end of the House of Luxembourg which was followed by the Hussites. After the advent of the Renaissance history does not really interest me so much.

Another artworks prepared by ZbyňĚK Fojtů