Lot 54

Karel Vítězslav Mašek (1865 - 1927) BLACK STATE II

Karel Vítězslav Mašek is one of the artists who have been rediscovered and appreciated relatively recently after a long period of oblivion. Today his works are sought after by many collectors. After a short period of study at the Academy in Prague, Mašek moved to Munich and later, together with Alphonse Mucha, to Paris. Here he became acquainted with Post-Impressionism and Symbolism, which was evident in his work after his return to Prague. He was active in many artistic fields, including architecture and urbanism. As a painter, he worked mainly in figurative painting, and also created monumental decoration of buildings and theatre curtains. The enigmatic painting from 1909 is closely related to the painting Black State from 1905 (Fabelová 2002, cat. no. 272, repro 89). It depicts a close-up of a rocky landscape punctuated by a dramatic episode of escape from the centre of the composition and a distinctive colour accent in the form of a red drapery. It came from the artist's estate and was part of the permanent decoration of his own house.