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Oil and mixed media on plasterboard. Signed lower right: "Benes/ 65" Vlastimil Beneš's unique work cannot always be easily categorized to a major 20th century art movement. His paintings, which this painting excellently represents, are filled with distinctive poetry, calm, tranquility and melancholy. In 1940–43 he visited Emanuel Frinta's private school of drawing, but in 1943 he was drafted as a forced laborer and sent to Germany. Upon returning home, he returned to painting. In 1946 he entered the Štursa art group. He held his first solo exhibition at the D 34 theater in 1956; the following year he became a member of the May 57 art group. Influenced by folk art, he created paintings with Social Civilist themes (the outskirts of Prague, sand quarries, navigation), later industrial and open landscapes and figurative motifs; alongside this he also created sculptures, puppets, and stage designs (Alfréd Radok, Doctor Faust). Vlastimil Beneš's works are represented in the National Gallery in Prague, Prague City Gallery, regional galleries in Roudnice and Liberec, and at Gekkoso Gallery in Tokyo. Sketch of Prague on the back of the painting.