Lot 85

Alois Kalvoda (1875 - 1934) LOVERS

Alois Kalvoda is one of the leading Czech landscape painters at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the years 1892-98 he studied at the Academy with Professor Julius Mařák. The teacher's romantic conception of the landscape of Kalvoda only briefly influenced him, but he applied his approach to students throughout his pedagogical career. In 1900, thanks to Hlávka's scholarship, he had the opportunity to undertake a study trip to Paris and a year later to Munich. The presented work Lovers belongs to the works in the manuscript of which the influences of modern Western painting can be clearly distinguished. Loose brushstrokes, the suppression of strict academic contours, the play of lights on the water surface and hints of branches or tufts of grass all point to the author's consistent study of French Impressionists, especially Claude Monet. The theme of two lovers during the night reception makes the work very interesting for collectors, as landscape creation without figural staffage by Alois Kalvoda completely prevails.