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Text and photos by Richard Dvořák |
Richard at work
I’d like to share four small paintings from a collection my wife and I have gathered over the years — works that hold deep personal meaning for me. These four pieces were created by two artists who have shaped my life in quiet but profound ways: my former art teacher and mentor, and his wife. Both studied under Joseph Beuys and have spent their lives immersed in the practice of painting, living with quiet integrity and intensity.
Though not Theosophists, their presence opened my inner path more than any other teaching. When I was sixteen, I spent several days in their home — days immersed in painting, in the study of artists, and in long conversations about Astrology, the Tarot, and the I Ching. One night, lying in their guest room, I experienced what I now recognize as my first awakening — a moment of unmistakable clarity and inner connectedness. So clear, I knew it wouldn’t last past sleep. And yet, its imprint stayed with me. That quiet, expansive sense of being wholly part of all life has returned only a few times since — but I have never forgotten it, and it continues to shape all of my decisions to this day.
It is precisely that quality, that subtle unity, which I recognize in these four paintings. That is why I chose them: for me, they embody this rare and luminous sense of being deeply connected to all life.
Interestingly, although they are both devout Buddhists, they never mentioned it until I returned to Germany from the U.S. at age 33. When I asked why, they explained that it had been a conscious choice — they didn’t want to influence me too early, but rather leave space for my own search to unfold. That gesture, too, taught me something essential about guidance and spiritual respect.
Their paintings — like their lives — are quiet, luminous, and spacious. For me, they embody a kind of spiritual seeing that doesn’t name itself as such. These are works about fire and water, form and formlessness, the subtle ties between beings. I share them here not just as art, but as part of a thread that connects teachers and students across lifetimes.
Untitled miniature by Jutta Utta
Watercolour, 2 5/8 × 6 in
An intimate vertical composition that quietly radiates inner transformation. Through delicate washes of red and blue, the elemental dance of fire and water is expressed in symbolic abstraction — rising forms, ascending light, and soft merging. Despite its small size, the piece opens into vast contemplative space — a study in the subtle anatomy of connectedness and becoming.
Untitled painting by Jutta Utta
Tempera, 5 3/8 × 6 1/2 in
At the center, a serene female figure, surrounded by symbols of animal, plant, and elemental life. Here too, fire and water are present — not just as colors or forms, but as living presences that circulate through the world-body. Executed in tempera, the work evokes the precision and depth of sacred imagery, suggesting a web of life where inner and outer nature are one.
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Untitled portrait by Holger Utta
Gouache, 9 3/8 × 9 7/8 in
A calm, luminous face gazes outward, dignified and receptive. Upon the head rests a crown adorned with a small figurine — a symbolic being, perhaps guardian or guide. This detail, central yet understated, suggests a hidden transmission: the presence of the subtle within the visible. A portrait of interior authority, gentle power, and symbolic connection.
Untitled visionary image by Holger Utta
Gouache, 9 1/4 × 11 in
A cosmic image of the feminine as source and synthesis. Seated upon a crescent, cradled in an orb of fire, water, sun, and air, she holds the seeds of renewal. The elements revolve around her not in conflict but in harmony — a mandala of creation. Here, too, interconnectedness is not an idea but a lived experience — revealed through form, color, and symbol.