Spring Art Auction Prague, April 26, 2026

EVENING SALE PRAGUE April 26, 2026, from 4 PM, at the Expo 58 ART exhibition hall
(Letenske sady 1500/80, 170 00 Prague 7)

The leader in Czech art auctions, the Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery auction house, once again achieved excellent results. We thank all bidders and congratulate them on a successful auction.

Among the most significant lots of the spring auction was an oil painting of exceptional quality by Frantisek Kupka, Pivoines (rouges et roses), from 1909–1910, which sold for EUR 1 230 030. The work had a unique provenance; it was first part of the famous collection of Frantisek Kupka’s close friend, the industrialist Jindrich Waldes, and subsequently that of Ambassador Stefan Osusky, who persuaded Waldes to sell it. Correspondence between Kupka and Waldes from January 1921 was also found alongside the work. Osuský subsequently organized the only joint exhibition of Frantisek Kupka and Alfons Mucha, which took place in Paris in 1936. The work is evidence of the artist’s rapidly evolving artistic style, which responded with extraordinary originality to the development Of modern painting. At the same time, it foreshadows Kupka’s abstract phase, which began to fully manifest itself the following year.

The auction also featured a rare canvas by Zdenek Sykora, Line No. 61, from 1989—which sold for EUR 745 590. This work was pivotal in the artist’s body of linear paintings and represented the absolute pinnacle of his systematic exploration of the relationship between a precisely defined order and chance. Through this innovative approach, Sykora fundamentally transformed the contemporary development of Czech and European art and established himself as one of the most significant figures in international geometric abstraction of the second half of the 20th century.

Another leading representative of Czech modern painting from the first half of the 20th century featured in the auction was the renowned painter Emil Filla, with his colorful Still Life with Flowers and Fruit from 1949, which sold for EUR 372 710.

Josef Sima, one of the most distinctive representatives of the lyrical movement in post-war Czech abstraction, was represented in the auction by the exceptional oil painting Chaotique vert from 1960, which sold for EUR 308 110. This almost ethereal, very subtly shaded painting was created using a highly complex technique in which Sima utilized the whiteness of the canvas, which shines through a thin layer of paint. Thanks to these meditative canvases, he was also called “the greatest on the path of meditative painting.”

The auction also featured a rare painting, Desire by Josef Capek from 1939. The work fetched a price of EUR 298 160. It presented a typical example of his figurative work with a shift toward modern expression, into which Capek infused his characteristic style.

Other notable lots that appeared in the auction were two oil paintings by Vaclav Bostik, Untitled, which sold for EUR 208 710, and Untitled, which sold for EUR 149 080. Both works date from the 1980s and contain hidden meanings that the artist encoded into them using subtle elements.

Another standout in the spring auction was Mikulas Medek’s masterpiece, Prisms, from 1973, which sold for EUR 198 780. His stunning and difficult-to-imitate technique, along with the almost drastic process of creating the canvas, became a phenomenal hallmark of his art. Bidders were also offered a work by Toyen, Untitled, from the 1950s, which sold for EUR 96 900. A masterpiece oil painting of gallery quality by Jaroslav Vesin, Hunting Scene, from 1910, sold for EUR 84 480.

Glass enthusiasts could look forward to unique glass objects from the studios of Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová. The first was a fused glass piece titled Window from 1987–1990, set in a custom-made travertine frame by Enzo Gallo. It was acquired directly from the artists for the Harry A. Gaines collection and sold for EUR 86 960. The second, no less significant piece, was Head with Hair from the 1990 collection of collectors Francine and Benson Piloff of South Carolina, which sold for EUR 52 170. The name of Frantisek Vizner also appeared among the design glass pieces. His works, Bowl with Oval Detail and Bowl with Circular Detail, were auctioned for EUR 24 850 and EUR 24 850.

The selection of unique sculptures also undoubtedly attracted the attention of collectors and investors, highlighted by Olbram Zoubek’s half-meter-tall bronze sculpture Woman of the Year, which sold for EUR 13 910. Another unique piece was Stanislav Kolibal’s brass work, Model for Construction, which fetched EUR 13 910.

The second half of the twentieth century featured works by painters such as Jiri John and his oil painting Coast (La Côte), which sold for EUR 44 720; Jiri Sopko’s acrylic on wood Untitled, which sold for EUR 28 320; Josef Jira’s oil and assemblage on canvas Sheep, which sold for EUR 27 830, and Tomas Bim’s oil and collage on hardboard Stvanice, which sold for EUR 18 880.

Contemporary Czech art was represented by top-tier works, such as those by Jan Mikulka, whose hyperrealistic oil on canvas Still Life with a Shell and an Elephant reached an impressive EUR 45 720, or Jan Gemrot’s oil on canvas Dream, which also achieved a fantastic EUR 39 750.

The auction’s standout performer was a small work (drypoint on paper) by Albin Brunovsky, Lady in a Hat II (Mirror), which saw a 582% increase and reached EUR 6 160.

All works of art have been verified by leading Czech and foreign experts.

The auction house is the only one in the Czech Republic to provide a lifetime guarantee of authenticity for the works of art it offers.