Lot 87

Joža Úprka (1861 - 1940) GIRL WITH A JUG

Jože Uprka is one of the few Czech artists at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries who emphasized ethnographic themes in his work, namely the region he knew intimately - the Moravian Slovácko region. His paintings combine the effort for an ethnographically accurate record of folk costumes and modern painting techniques. Painter and graphic artist with a special artistic expression, studied with prof. F. Čermák at the Prague Academy. The beginning of his work is connected with a three-year study at the academy in Munich, where he collected valuable suggestions from prof. N. Gysis and later O. Sitz. After a short period in Prague associated with his registration with M. Pirner, he returned to his homeland in Moravian Slovakia at the end of the 1980s, which, with its color and customs, became its main source of inspiration. His masterpieces radiate joy of color, joy of movement, expression of vital forces and life optimism.