The Art Auction of the Year
2 PM on Sunday October 4, 2020 at Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery
The auction market leader Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery will offer a number of masterpieces from various Czech and European private collections in its upcoming October art sale. The most important work to be bid on is Toyen’s masterpiece La Dame de Pique. This iconic painting belongs to the painter’s rare and highly regarded Parisian period. Toyen painted this work shortly after her arrival to Paris in 1926. As the main representative of the world’s artificial and surrealist movement, Toyen created La Dame de Pique under the influence of the Parisian avant-garde, foreshadowing her subsequent career as a painter. The importance of this work is also evidenced by the fact that the painting was featured on the cover of the Succession Toyen auction catalogue on the occasion of the auction of the painter’s estate in Paris in 1982.
La Dame de Pique was first seen in Paris at an exhibition by Toyen and Jiri Styrsky in 1926 at Galerie d ´art contemporain and the painting has since been exhibited and published many times. The interwar period belongs to the author’s most significant ones and this work presents a unique auction opportunity for collectors. There has never been a painting by Toyen of comparable quality and importance on the Czech and world art auction market. The starting price of the painting is underpinned by its vast historical significance and is set at EUR 1.150,000.
Another important work of art featured in the auction is Josef Capek’s charming masterpiece Children in the Grass, 1933. Painted by the main representative of Czech modernism, this work is an extraordinary example of lyrical cubism. Capek observes a group of children and equates their playful game to the ideal form of life. This starting price for this painting is set at EUR 226,920.
The October auction will also offer two splendid canvases from the master of shadows and lights Jakub Schikaneder. The painting Winter Bloom from 1887 was lost for a long period. It is an extremely charming work, inspired by Japanese decorative art. In this lyrical painting, the author expresses the significance of the late afternoon light. This work will be offered for sale with a starting price of EUR 103,850 The second oil on canvas by Jakub Schikaneder is the beautiful Garden from 1889 with a starting price of EUR 57,690.
Jan Zrzavy is represented in the auction by a unique painting called Beautiful Mountain (Green Landscape), 1933. In this work, the painter devotes himself to the theme of the Czech landscape that is attractively captured in his painting. The use of soft pastel color, which is disturbed only by the strong blue and green hues, gives the whole picture a balanced expression with a harmonious atmosphere. The starting price is EUR 107,690.
The auction house also succeeded in securing a large set of high-quality paintings by Frantisek Tichy. The excellent painting Arlecchino, 1938 is one of the most significant of these, created under the influence of the world-famous Commedia dell’arte. The work is rooted in 17th and 18th-century Venetian and French painting and captures the painter’s passion for theatrical atmosphere. The starting price of this painting is EUR 37,690
Further important paintings offered in the auction include a number of works by the popular painter Emil Filla. These include a rare oil from 1947 titled Bust of a Woman in Front of a Green Wall, and an oil on canvas with an atypical subject Landscape with a Building (Orchards) from the 1920s. The starting price for Bust of a Woman in Front of a Green Wall is set at EUR 38,460. The Landscape with a Building comes from the collection of a leading Czech surgeon and will be offered with the starting price of EUR 46,150.
Furthermore, Filla’s 1914 painting Still Life with a Pipe, which belongs into the artist’s most important Cubist period, will also appear in the auction. This painting will be offered with a starting price of EUR 26, 920.
The auction will also offer several rare works by Frantisek Kupka. These include, for example, his brilliantly executed painting from 1897, which is an important preparatory study for the fundamental painting Biblioman that belongs to the Prague Castle collection. Kupka’s symbolist period will be represented in the auction by his work La Voie du silence I. from 1898. This is one of the few exceptional works in which Kupka associated his work with this artistic movement. The starting price of the Biblioman is EUR 15,380 and La Voie du silence I. is starting at EUR 14,620.
Pravoslav Kotik’s Recreation, 1946 is another important work of art on offer. This multi-figure, large-format composition is the result of the artist’s observation of summer motifs as a record of human destiny. The painting belonged to the artist’s family and its starting price is EUR 32,690.
Another auction highlight is Josef Istler’s Painting from 1966, which belongs to his highly appreciated Informel period. Josef Istler was one of the most important figures of this art movement. The work will be entering the auction with a starting price of EUR 16,150.
The auction will also feature several extraordinary works by the popular artist Kamil Lhotak, formerly belonging to important private collections.
We will also offer several splendid works by Olbram Zoubek, one of the most important Czech sculptors of the 20th century. An extraordinary example is Zoubek’s 2-metre-tall statue of Marie dating back to 1978. This bronze figure will be offered with a starting price of EUR 28,850 Another auctioned sculpture will be Kazi, 1998 with a starting price of EUR 30,770.
Singer Karel Gott’s erotic oil on canvas Lovers in the Shower, 1998 with a starting price of EUR 11,350 will also be auctioned.
Another work worth pointing out is Vera Janouskova and her Plate,after cooking with a starting price of EUR 6,920 In her work, the artist often used found objects, such as old stone forms, enamelled sheets, battered pots, colanders, old plates and various discarded and obsolete things present in daily life. At present, her works are incredibly difficult to find on the open art market.
The attention of collectors and investors will be undoubtedly attracted also by other great works of art, including those by Josef Manes, Adolf Kosarek, Vojtech Hynais, Julius Marak, Vaclav Brozik, Vaclav Radimsky, Otto Gutfreund, Othon Coubin, Vaclav Spala, Joza Uprka, Oscar Dominguez, Joan Miro, Endre Nemes Oldrich Blazicek, Josef Jira, Milan Grygar, Ota Janecek, Michael Rittstein, Frantisek Drtikol, Josef Koudelka, Jiri Hilmar, Bela Kolarova and many others. Some of these are starting at a price as low as EUR 190.
There will also be a number of works auctioned to raise funds for the Endowment Fund oKaterina Sokolova Auttalk, Endowment Fund of Filip Venclik and Endowment Fund Hagibor Social Care Home.
Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery is the only auction house in the Czech Republic to provide a lifetime guarantee of the authenticity of the works of art it offers.
Auction October 4, 2020 at 2 PM, Manes exhibition hall
Exhibition:
September 3 - October 3 from 10 AM to 6 PM and October 3, 2020 from 10 AM to 1,30 PM
(open daily including weekends and holidays)
Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery in Manes
Masarykovo nabrezi 250/1, Prague 1
