Lot 51

Jan Václav Mrkvička (1856 - 1938) A BULGARIAN GIRL

Originally a Czech painter Ivan Mrkvička (Bulgarian Иван Мърквичка), real name Jan Václav Mrkvička, is considered one of the founders of Bulgarian modern painting. He contributed to artistic life in Bulgaria, newly liberated from Turkish rule, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The painting The Bulgarian Girl is undoubtedly the largest and most elaborate work by Ivan Mrkvička, which appeared on the auction market. An interesting composition brings a view of a girl at the window of a living room in a traditional dress and a sickle in her hand. It is a valuable ethnographic record of the time and a sensitive depiction of regional clothing with highly decorative elements, which women themselves produced at home from an early age and which had important functions and symbolisms for them.