PRESS INFO

Auction - Fine art of 20th century - 02. 10. 2004
Prague on the 27th of August, 2004

The first autumn auction of the Prague branch of the Dorotheum auction house, scheduled for October 2nd at the Renaissance Prague Hotel, will focus on the visual arts and design of the 20th century. 330 items of visual artwork, sculpture and antiques will be offered at the auction at asking prices totaling about CZK 11 million.
The offering of pictures and sculpture is very broad, including works of early 20th century artists such as F. Dvořák, Vlaho Bukovac and landscape artists of the Mařák school, and continuing with creations by artists from the end of the 20th century. There is a very interesting collection from the 1960s, offering for instance two large canvasses by Mikuláš Medek that were recently exhibited at his retrospective in Prague at the Rudolfinum. In the 1960s collection you will also find oil paintings by Jiří Valenta and Adéla Matasová and several canvases by Jaroslav Paur. The creations of an older generation are represented by a spacious early work by Oldřich Blažíček called Interior of the Cathedral of St. Vitus, Portrait of a Young Lady by Vlaho Bukovac and three canvases by Bedřich Feigl, a member of the famous Eight. Among the significant works of the Czech avant-garde is a Self-portrait by Jiří Hudeček, which is one of the two well preserved assemblages by Hudeček and which has already been reproduced several times. From among Czech artworks of the 1950s, collectors will be interested in the picture Street by Jan Kotík dated 1946, the picture Grief by Václav Zykmund from the same year, and the picture Two Actors by Josef Liesler. Also from the 1950s is an oil painting by Karl Černý called Poppy Field. Among the significant works by Slovak avant-garde artists to be auctioned is a picture by Cyprián Majerník called On a Train, dated 1937. The important Polish painter Raymond Kanelba, who worked in France, Great Britain and the United States, is also represented at the auction by two pictures. His spacious canvas Port is especially noteworthy.
The rich assortment of graphics, drawings and photographs is dominated by an extensive collection of portraits of well-known personalities by Emil Orlik.
Characteristic works by the Viennese architect Adolf Loos represent early 20th century European design. There is a tea table with legs formed like elephant trunks and an extensive beverage service made of clear glass. Also to be auctioned are two armchairs by Josef Hoffmann, originally designed for the Fledermaus café in Vienna.