New Figuration

[3] In relation to the previous periods, it is essentially the counterpart of sentimental-aesthetic tendencies and represents an internally urgent expression of moods and existential feelings, which can sometimes appear even as a cult of "ugliness".

[5] The post-war crisis of anthropocentrism and the related departure from traditional conceptions of figuration led temporarily to an emphasis on radical movements of non-figurative art such as neoconstructivism and geometric abstraction, which had no connection with the world of real phenomena and were assigned a purely artistic role.

In spite of its intense criticism and open skepticism, to which nothing is sacred, it signifies a new inclination towards the human predicament, and its background is the will to overcome the enormous existential and social dilemma of modern times.

French sculptors Ossip Zadkine and Germaine Richier, in England Henry Moore, Kenneth Armitage, Lynn Chadwick, painters Diego Rivera, Fernand Léger, Hans Erni and especially Francis Bacon, considered the "father" of neo-expressionism.

The grotesque monstrosity and wild colouring of Niki de Saint-Phalle's figures and the late sculptural work of Karel Appel[20] is based on Pop art.

[22] The majority of the Czech artists of New Figuration went through the Informel period and their work retains a strong existential subtext despite its external grotesqueness (Zbyšek Sion, Zdeněk Beran, Karel Nepraš, Jan Hendrych,[23] Aleš Veselý[24]).

While Western artists such as Canadian Edmund Alleyn[25] more strongly perceive the alienation of technical civilization, art classified in the 1970s and 1980s as "Czech grotesque" is considered an ironic representation of stereotypes of human behaviour (Karel Pauzer, Hana Purkrábková)[26] or bourgeoisie and political establishment (Bohumil Zemánek, Michael Rittstein).

The blending of photorealistic painting transferred onto a polished steel plate and the mirror reflection of the viewer was used in works by Michelangelo Pistoletto, a member of Arte Povera.

Narrative figuration works with cycles of images or the delineation of plots in discrete fields (Cloisonné), multiplication and variant representations of a single motif, or transfigurations (Eduardo Arroyo).

The distinction between sculpture and installation is blurred, the two-dimensional image enters a three-dimensional space (Marisol Escobar)[45] or loses its precise boundaries (Jan Kotík).

Antonio Berni, who is one of the representatives of the South American social critical painting Nuevo Realismo, used reliefs from the civilization garbage in his series Juanito Laguna.