Art Auction Prague

Sunday April 13, 2025 at 4 PM in Expo 58 ART EXHIBITION HALL

PRE-EXHIBITION EXHIBITION

MARCH 12 - APRIL 12, 2025: 10 AM-6 PM
APRIL 13, 2025: 10 AM-3:30 PM

The spring auction of contemporary and modern art, organized by the Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery in Prague, once again recorded beautiful results. One new world auction record was set. Of the 99 art lots offered, the vast majority of the artworks sold.

One of the most important items of the spring auction was a painting of exceptional quality by Frantisek Kupka, called Ovale d'Acier, from 1927, which was auctioned for EUR 314 600. The work fell within Frantisek Kupka's abstract painting period after 1925, when he began to move away from richly modulated spherical visions and decided to paint vigorously. The work Ovale d'Acier was a response to the accelerating pace of life and industrialization. Kupka, living at the time in Puteaux near Paris, was greatly influenced by this phenomenon. The painting was one of the painter's highly prized works, much sought after by collectors. The name of Frantisek Kupka was also represented in the auction by a second work entitled Satirical Scene, which was most likely used as an illustration for the magazine Cocorico, published in Paris from 1898. This small work was auctioned for EUR 13 552. 

Also included in the auction was a rare canvas by Jan Zrzavy - Tête / Head  from 1912 - 1945, the final sum was EUR 300 080. The work came from the collection of the painter's friend, the world-famous piano master Emil Gilels. The painting on offer exuded the perfect melancholy of a human being with a mysterious expression, and its indistinct background made the face stand out with a similar charm as the faces on the canvases of the artist's adored master Leonardo da Vinci.

Vaclav Bostik, the most prominent representative of the lyrical current of Czech post-war abstraction, was represented in the auction by an extraordinary large-format oil, In principio, from 1989. The canvas belonged to a group of his works from the mid-1980s. It dealt with the motif of the mandala, which means circle in Sanskrit. The canvas came from the famous collection of the Wannieck Gallery, Brno and was auctioned for EUR 275 880. Another work by Bostik that appeared in the auction was Untitled. The early chamber canvas, depicting a kind of geometric network with nodal points, reminiscent of oscillating particles from a recording of a physical process, was auctioned off with a price of EUR 43 560.

The exceptional oil by Jan Kubicek, Variation system C, was also sold with an increase of 62%, the final amount of which reached EUR 53 240.

The attention of collectors and investors was undoubtedly attracted by the offer of unique sculptures. Vincenc Makovsky was represented in the auction by a unique bronze relief, Lying, from 1929 - 1930, considered one of the most important modernist sculptures. Here the artist used the cubist analytical method, which allowed him to break down the traditional human figure into individual, simplified parts. The work was auctioned for EUR 33 880 and making it a new world auction record for the artist.. The next sculpture by Vincenc Makovsky in the auction was a bronze sculpture entitled Hunched Over (1932) with a final price of EUR 20 328. The auction also included a work by the popular contemporary painter and sculptor Jaroslav Rona, Bust (1989), in gilt bronze, with a final price of EUR 22 748. Karel Hladik and his Standing Nude of a Woman was auctioned for EUR 17 908.

Another extraordinary convolute of gallery quality that appeared in the auction were works from the collection of the renowned Wannieck Gallery, Brno. Among the works from this unique collection, the auction offered, in addition to the aforementioned Bostik, also a painting by Vaclav Stratil, Yoghurt Colours, with a final price of EUR 18 392, making it the auction's jumper with an extraordinary price increase of 660%. Vladimir Kokolia and his oil on canvas The Corridor sold for EUR 15 488. Ivan Ouhel and his Moon sold for EUR 12 020. Jiri Naceradsky and his double-sided painting Red Man sold for EUR 10 648.

Glass lovers could enjoy, for example, unique clear optical glasses from the workshop of Vaclav Cigler. The work Displaced was auctioned for EUR 19 360. The second work, Steles, went for EUR 10 648.

Czech painting of the first half of the twentieth century was represented in the auction by sought-after names. Otakar Kubin (Coubine) and his oil on canvas Rotonde I (Landscape from Provence) was auctioned for EUR 18 392. Alphonse Mucha and his pastel on paper Portrait of a Daughter of Jaroslava was auctioned for EUR 14 520. The second half of the twentieth century saw works by painters such as Jiri Anderle, whose assemblage on sololith, The Creation of the World, rose by a full 483% to EUR 16 940.The work Brown Stones by Kveta Valova, oil and sand on canvas, from 1978, was auctioned for EUR 17 424. 

Contemporary Czech and Slovak art was further represented by top works. For example, a canvas by Barbora Barbar Kysilkova ended with a beautiful result; her oil on canvas Madonna Pruina fetched EUR 14 520. Michael Rittstein with his acrylic work Hideaway achieved a result of EUR 12 100. Vit Soukup and his oil on canvas Moonwalk reached EUR 11 616. Jan Gemrot and his oil on canvas from the Morphosis 2 cycle reached EUR 10 164.

All the artworks were examined by the most important Czech experts and foreign experts.

The auction house is the only one in the Czech Republic to offer a lifetime guarantee of the authenticity of the offered artworks.