Internationally renowned sculptor Ivan Theimer was born in 1944 in Olomouc, Moravia, a historic region of the present-day Czech Republic. From 1963 to 1965, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Uherské Hradiště, but after the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Theimer emigrated to Paris, where he studied at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts from 1968 to 1971. In the 1970s, he participated in numerous exhibitions in France, distinguishing himself in the lively artistic environment of the capital, so much so that ten years after his arrival, he was invited to participate in the Venice Biennale in the French Pavilion, where he returned in 1982 and 1995 for the centenary at Palazzo Grassi. In 1989, when the Velvet Revolution and the election of a new president brought about the long-awaited political change in his native country, Theimer resumed contact and enthusiastically participated in the climate of renewal.
Havel himself rewarded his return and participation in the artistic life of the country by dedicating a major retrospective exhibition to him at the Belvedere of Prague Castle, which he inaugurated in 1996. His works are inspired by Tuscan Mannerism, but also by the symbolism and classicism of ancient civilisations, from Egyptian to Greco-Roman. His monumental works, especially obelisks, are located in numerous squares throughout Europe. His life and work are the meeting point of two aspects: one, the representation of reality, and the other, predominantly allegory, metaphor, myth and symbol. In recent years, he has created sets and costumes for opera, combining his love of music with his many talents. Theimer now lives between Paris and Pietrasanta.
2025
Da valicate frontiere, Monastero di S. Maria in Valle, Cividale del Friuli, Italy
2023
Identità mutevole: Valerio Berruti, Ivan Theimer and Cosimo Vella, MARCOROSSI
artecontemporanea Gallery, Milano, Torino, Verona, Italy
2022
The bestiary, Berman Gallery, Turin, Italy
2021-2022
Sacred and myth, Museo della città e Palazzo Trinci, Foligno, Italy
2021
Ivan Theimer. Symbolic Forest, Museo di arti decorative Accorsi-Ometto, Turin, Italy
2016
Arezzo, Italy
Il sogno di Theimer, Fortezza Medicea e Galleria Comunale d’arte contemporanea,
2015
Il sentimento del tempo, Centro italiano d’arte contemporanea (CIAC), Foligno, Italy
2014
Ivan Theimer. Via lucis, Olomouc Kunstmuseum (MUO) and Archbishop’s Palace,
Olomouc, Czech Republic
Luoghi altrove/Des lieux ailleurs, La Cavallerizza, Milan, Italy
Oeuvres autour du Mémorial, Galerie Artenostrum, Dieulefit, France2012
Sacred Horizons. Elio Ciol, Ivan Theimer and the Places of Spirituality, Centro Studi Pier
Paolo Pasolini, Casarsa della Delizia, Italy
Suggestioni d’antico, Civic Archaeological Museum, Sarteano, Italy
Via lucis in Uhersky Brod, Ivan Theimer in Moravia, Galerie Pansky Dum, Muzeum Jana
Amose Komenskeho e Q Galerie, Uhersky Brod, Czech Republic
2011
Galerie Artenostrum, Dieulefit, France
Le Pays des deux lumières, Centre d’art Raymond du Puy, Le Poët-Laval, France
2010
Ivan Theimer. Myth and History, Palazzo Pianciani, Spoleto, Italy
2009
Forme nella città, Macerata, Italy
2008
Women & Myths, Pinacoteca Civica Modigliani, Follonica, Italy
The Forest of Obelisks, Palazzo Pitti, Giardino di Boboli and Loggia degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
2007
Fiera di Bologna, Galerie Claude Bernard, Bologna, Italy
Ivan Theimer. Carnet de voyage, Fondazione Ersel, Turin, Italy
Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
2006
Ivan Theimer. At the Gates of the East, Cathedral Square, Massa, Italy
2004
Rocche e scultori contemporanei 2004. Etica & Estetica, Rocca Malatestiana, Cesena, Italy
2003
The joy of a great design. Ivan Theimer: memory of the Napoleonic routes, National
Museum of Napoleonic Residences, Villa San Martino and Demidoff Gallery, Portoferraio, Italy
Mediterraneo silente, Museo provinciale Sigismondo Castromediano, Lecce, Italy
Works on paper, National Library of Hungary, Budapest, Hungary
2002
25 Aprile a Marignana. Ivan Theimer, sculture, Marignana, Italy
Œuvres sur papier, Bibliothèque nationale de France (Bnf), Paris, France
Pavillon des antiquaires et des beaux-arts e Galerie Di Meo, Paris, France
2001
Fiera di Bologna, Flora Bigai Gallery, Bologna, Italy
Ivan Theimer, Galerie Le Point, Montecarlo, Monaco
2000
Costume designs and sketches for the sets of The Barber of Seville, Teatro Rossini, Pesaro, Italy
Galerie Gambit, Prague, Czech Republic
The idea of beauty, Panorama Museum, Bad Frankenhausen, Germany
La pesca di Tobiolo, La Pescheria Visual Arts Center, Pesaro. Italy
Sedmá olomoucká kašna, Olomouc Kunstmuseum (MUO), Olomouc, Czech Republic
1999
Ivan Theimer, Church of San Lorenzo, Aosta, Italy
TEFAAF, Galerie Claude Bernard, Maastricht, Netherlands
1998
Pietrasanta delle Apuane, Chiostro di Sant’Agostino e Piazza del Duomo, Pietrasanta, Italy
1997
Biennale des Antiquaires, Galerie Le Point, Montecarlo, Monaco
Galerie Le Point, Montecarlo, MonacoInvitation to travel, Villa Bottini, Lucca, Italy
Ivan Theimer. Principales réalisations monumentales en France, Musée de la toile de
Jouy, Jouy-en-Josas, France
1996
Galerie Nový Svět, Prague, Czech Republic
Institut Français, Prague, Czech Republic
Olomouc Kunstmuseum (MUO), Olomuc, Czech Republic
Stepanska 35, Prague, Czech Republic
Theimer. Sochy a obrazy 1960-1995, Prague Castle viewpoint, Prague, Czech Republic
Theimer, Centre international d’art et d’animation Raymond du Puy, Le Poët-Laval,
1995
France
1994
Salamon Gallery, Milan, Italy
1993
XVIII° International Biennial of Antiques, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
Arte Fiera 93, La Sanseverina Gallery, Bologna, Italy
Biennale des Antiquaires, Galerie Le Point, Montecarlo, Monaco
Yvan Theimer, Il Tempietto Gallery, Brindisi, Italy
1992
Hommage à Comenius, Association Le Pont Neuf, Paris, France
Theimer, Galerie Di Meo, Paris, France
1991
Galerie Les Hospitaliers, Le Poët-Laval, France
Salon du Sud-Est, Galerie Le Lutrin, Lyon, France
Salon de Mars, Paris, France
Theimer, Galerie Le Point, Montecarlo, Monaco1989-1990
Ivan Theimer 1789-1989, Galerie Le Lutrin, Lyon, France
1989
Ivan Theimer. Projects 1789-1989, La Sanseverina Gallery, Parma, Italy
1987
Art LA 87 International Fair, L’Affresco Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Expoarte Bari, Il Tempietto Galllery, Bari, Italy
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Pau, France
Réalité Irréalité? autour de Ivan Theimer, Musée Ingres, Montauban, France
1986
Ivan Theimer, Documenta Gallery, Torino
1985
FIAC, Galerie Albert Loeb, Paris, Francia
International Art Fair, L’Affresco Gallery, Chicago, Stati Uniti
Ivan Theimer. Bronzes, marbres et dessins Galerie Albert Loeb, Paris, France
SIMA, Galerie Albert Loeb, Venice, Italy
1984
Galerie Le Troisième Œil, Bordeaux, France
1983
Theimer, Galerie Albert Loeb, Paris, France
1982
Ivan Theimer, Documenta Gallery, Turin, Italy
Venice Biennale, International Pavilion, Art as Art: The Persistence of the Work, Venice, Italy
1981
Theimer, Galerie Jan Krugier, Geneva, Swiss
Galerie Le Lutrin, Lyon, France
1978
Du visage, Atelier Annick Le Moine, Paris, France
Theimer. Bronzes 1970-78, Galerie Albert Loeb, Paris, France
1977
Ateliers Aujourd’hui, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1976
Ivan Theimer, Documenta Gallery, Turin, Italy
Ivan Theimer, Il Naviglio Gallery, Milan, Italy
Galerie Lanzenberg, Bruxelles, Belgium
Galerie Le Lutrin, Lyon, France
1975
Ivan Theimer, Galerie Armand Zerbib, Paris, France
1973
Galerie Armand Zerbib, Paris, France
Galerie Le Lutrin, Lyon, France
1972
Ivan Theimer, Galerie Armand Zerbib, Paris, France
La Boulangerie, Le Poët-Laval, France
Yvan Theimer, Galerie La Rencontre, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Yvan Theimer, Perrins Art Gallery, Lonon, Great Britain
1970
Yvan Theimer, Galerie Le Point, Paris, France
1967
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Great Britain
2007
Bishop’s Chair, Cathedral of San Cerbone, Massa Marittima, Italy
2005
Column, Place de la Victoire, Paris, France.
Monument to wine, Bordeaux, France.
Set and costume design for The Barber of Seville, Festival International d’Aix-en-
Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France.
2004
Monument to the Fallen for Peace, Piazza Don Minzoni, Foligno, Italy
Monument to Giuseppe Piermarini, Foligno, Italy
Altar and Ambo, Cathedral of San Cerbone, Massa Marittima, Italy
2002
Three columns for SNC Kruger Courbevoie, Courbevoie, France.
The Arion Fountain, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Scenography for Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Gothenburg Opera, Sweden.
Scenography for Rossini’s Cenerentola, Gothenburg Opera, Sweden.
2001
“Pegaso d’oro” Award from the Tuscany Region, Italy
Monument to Jules Verne, Amiens, France.
Odysseus (relief), Les Colombières garden, Menton, France.
2000
Commemorative Medal for the Jubilee, Vatican, Italy.
Sets and costumes for Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Gothenburg Opera, Sweden.
Le chat, Les Colombières garden, Menton, France.
1999
Orphée, Les Colombières garden, Menton, France.
Bronze door for the SARI Développement Company, Rue Le Pelletier, Paris, France.1998
Allegory of the Sea, Follonica Town Hall, Follonica, Italy
Butterfly Hunting (column), Les Colombières Garden, Menton, France.
The Acrobats (relief), Les Colombières garden, Menton, France.
1997
Monument, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
1995
Four Seasons, Place de la République, Poissy, France.
Monumental fountain, Behördenzentrum Fulda, Fulda, Germany.
The cluster of the promised land, Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Martillac, France.
Les portes de la Vallée du Lay, highway A83 Nantes-Niort, France.
1994
Fountain, Place de la République, Poissy, France.
1992
Monument to Jan Amos Komensky, Uhersky Brod, Czech Republic.
Three sculptures, Issy-Guynemer real estate complex, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.
Two lamp-sculptures for the PARK company, Paris, France.
1991
Scenes and costumes from Mozart’s Apollo and Hyacinth, Opéra national de Lyon, Lyon, France.
Monument to the memory of the poet Heinrich Heine, Hamburg, Germany.
1990
Monument to Sophie von Brabant, Marburg Town Hall, Marburg, Germany.
1989
Hercules, Kassel, Germania.
Monument to the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen, Hôtel de Ville,
Champ-de-Mars, Paris, France1987-1988
Histoire des Quatre fils Aymon, CARAN, Archives Nationales, Paris, France
1984-1987
Three bronze obelisks, Palais de L’Elysée, Paris, France.
1978
Three bronze turtles for a retirement home, Grenoble, France.
1968-1969
Fountain, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
1967-1969
Fountain, Prerov, Czech Republic.
1967
The ear of Janaček, Hôtel Hukvaldy, Hukvaldy, Czech Republic.
Turin, 12 November 2026 - 22 January 2027
Verona, 7 November 2026 – 22 January 2027 |
Milan, 4 November 2026 – 22 January 2027
Pietrasanta, 26 April - 26 May 2024
