Artist Patrik Saudek: I would sell my father’s pictures only if I’m starving
Patrik (48), the son of the deceased cartoonist Kája Saudek (†80), has inherited an incredible talent after his dad. When the artist died two years ago, after being nine years in coma, it was a blow to the entire family. Despite the fact it affected Patrik as any other kid who loses his/her father, he strives to go on today. Nevertheless, every single of his pictures carries a piece of legacy of the famous Kája in it. In his interview with Luxury Prague Life, Patrik talks not only about his large family, but also about his inspirations, deals and women, who he loves as much as his uncle, only on a smaller scale.
Patrik, how long you have been making living by painting?
It has been long time. I sold my first picture when I was fifteen. And actually my dad used to give me some money since I was about ten for helping him. I will be 49 in November, so it has been a long time.
You started your carrier having a famous name. Is it an advantage or disadvantage?
I do not know. It depends, I guess. Saudek sounds good, I like the name. But people forget. It has been already two years since my dad died. And while people from the field know, ordinary people have already forgotten. There are others now, more famous.
Do people recognize you on the street?
No, but they never did.
Your dad is buried at Vyšehrad...
It took a very long time to get him there. My mom had him in her bedroom in a can from Campbell soup for long time. Eventually, we buried him together at Vyšehrad and thought about him. These days, I occasionally visit him there but my visits do not have any exact regularity.
When I talked to you shortly after his death, you told me you think about him every day and that you have dreams of him. Is it still the case?
Yes, I guess. But you know what... life must go on. I cannot live in the past and constantly think about him. It does not mean, however, that I stopped loving him. But I also need to think about other people. Especially about my mom and my sister, they are still here and they are my closest family.
Are they an inspiration for you for your drawing?
Certainly. My mom definitely loves me and I love her as well. But we can have some big arguments too. We have the same temperament. It is hard to argue with her and that also has an impact on my work. Lie everything.
I looked at the pictures you post on Facebook. They are mostly women on them. Beautiful women. Are they real or is that your phantasy?
I get my inspiration from real women, but I also idealize them as it suits me, making sure the style I want to maintain is there. All gallerists say that my pictures are always different, so I try to unify them somehow with the objective for people to be able to tell that it was me who made them. I do so by presenting those individual women on the pictures in a certain, unified style.
By the Saudeks like all women.
Yes, and I am no exception (laughter).
Do you do commission work?
Yes. I am doing some work for ShowPark right now. It is an establishment called Da Vinci, in which girls rent rooms and make money. There is also a cabaret there, with dance performances and so on. The owner gave me this big commission work for relatively good money. I took it right away. I will even have a vernissage there in September. However, I do not think the girls will be there on that day (laughter).
Do the girls want to work as models?
I prefer to use the women I have at home. When I am with a girl, I always eventually use her for my pictures. It is somehow subconscious. It is not important what kind of body or features she has. Important is her type. For example, you are a graceful kind of a woman. And I will, as I am sitting close to you, without consciously realizing it, paint you later, maybe tomorrow. My brain or inspiration just works in this way, without me concentrating on it. It is natural.
How much do your pictures sell for?
Prices of my graphics start at three thousand and can go up anywhere from there. I can get 35 thousand for a picture, for example. The same price as oil paintings. Each picture is different, thus the prices vary. But I do not go from bar to bar, offering my creations for 500 crowns. Definitely not (laughter).
It seems to me it is very hard to break through.
It is hard everywhere. Everybody would like to do art for living because it looks easy. However, it may be the hardest in its own way because you have to be interesting not only for yourself but mainly for others who will, for some reason or another, buy your art for the money they make. That is why it is hard. Anybody would take it for free, but when one has to pay for it, and we know art is not cheap, one has to do something for it. Food gets eaten, toilet paper used and thrown away, but art is something extra. That is why people have empty walls at home. It does not cross their mind to put something up. People are afraid to buy something. And when they do want to buy something, they look for recommendations what to buy. That is why there are those gallerists who take 50-70% of the sale prices from the artists. Nevertheless the artists are glad anyway, because at least somebody is selling their work.
Do you have anybody else on the wall but yourself?
I do not. I have some personal things there though, such as a crucifix or a Jewish star (laughter).
I was more thinking about some famous artist!
I do not, really. I change the pieces on my wall very often. I basically use my living space or my atelier as a public gallery. So when people call me that they would like a picture from me, they come to my house and pick one. And I do not want to confuse them by putting somebody else’s picture up since they would pick that one (laughter).
Do you have anything from your dad? I mean something that he painted exclusively for you.
Yes. But I have it in a safe place. We store his entire inheritance, including pictures, in a safe place.
What will you do with it? Its value has at least doubled after his death, has it not?
Yea. That is interesting, is it not? The fact that the value of artists’ work increase with their deaths… We are not going to sell it because we have to reason to. I want so sell my staff, not my dad’s. Of course, should there be an emergency, such as no food money, one would sell anything. You have to give preference to your own life and art. These family treasures, that is another thing all together. You cannot eat your paintings.
How do you like to spend the money you get for your paintings?
I am frugal, I do not live beyond my means, but I do love the sea and travelling. But not the cheap toiling in Albanian mountains. I like lying around by the sea in Italy and have sufficient money to do so. Not to be worried that I am poor. I want to get drunk there the same way I do here. It is very enjoyable to go somewhere once in a while and not act like a beggar there. Clothing is a nice thing, but that does not do it for me. As for a car, I do not have one, actually, I do not even have a driving license...
You do not have a driving license? Did they take it from you or have you never had it?!
Well, I used to, but not in Czech. After the revolution I went to the United States and had a driving license there. I even used it here in Czech for a while when I got back. That took about ten years. But I did not like looking for a parking space all the time, it was annoying. I realize I can walk or ride a bike pretty much anywhere I need to go. And the driving license, well, I cannot find it, but it is has probably already expired anyway (laughter).
That is quite strange you do not have a car.
But you do not need it in Prague. I walk or, if I am tired, I take a cab. And when I go for a trip, I usually fly and take a cab at the destination. You can get anywhere by train or bus or on the bike. I simply realized I do not need it.
I feel that every man should have a car.
I have heard that from few ladies already, that it is strange that I do not have a car. That it is like missing my right arm. However, I believe that a real man should be interesting by something else, not by his car.
What is interesting about you? Apart from the fact that you are Saudek and that you can paint nice pictures?
I have always tried to attract women. By enjoying life and the moments we spend together, having a good meal and wine, talking about her and her parents, her life, etc. That is the lightness of being. I enjoy it. I am really interested in it, I do not pretend anything.
You have an eighteen-year old daughter. Is she following your footsteps as an artist?
She is a very interesting person, it is hard to assess her. She is – as they call it when one dies his/her hair black and so on – an “emo”. She is a good girl. So far, I do not know how to approach her, and she does not know how to approach me. I am still her embarrassing father (laughter).
What about the rest of the Saudeks, how many nieces, nephews, and cousins do you have?
Jesus, I do not follow them at all. We keep in touch but we do not talk about kids. They are not interested in us, and we are not interested in them. I cannot imagine getting all together at a table or even in a single room. Furthermore, it is hard with Jan. Sometimes he talks strangely and is pretty hard on those close to him. And when you want to pay him back by the same token, he becomes so sensitive, almost crying. He trained me, but my dad too. Thanks to him, I am tough, even though I am sensitive at the same time.
When I skip the ShowPark, where else would you invite me for an exhibition of yours?
Traditionally, I always have an exhibition in December and January in Karlovy Vary at the Freedom Café. This year, I will also have an exhibition at the Na Břehu Rhóny Café. Come to check it out.
