Lot 20

Václav Brožík (1851 - 1901) PORTRAIT OF A LADY IN PERIOD DRESS

This portrait of a lady in period dress is an unequivocal, beautiful and typical work by Václav Brožík. As explained in the expert assessment by PhDr. Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová: “In the late summer and early autumn of 1879, Brožík traveled to the Netherlands to become acquainted with 16th–18th century Flemish and Dutch painting. He was most captivated by the worldly portraits and technically brilliant beautiful miniature scenes of the late 17th century, which described moments of peace for the Dutch patriciate in the middle of their opulent, intimately inhabited salons. Their influence was prominent in Brožík’s paintings, especially in the first half of the 1880s. At the time he created a whole series of portraits in period folk costume and compositionally very similar, clever arrangements of unexacting, conversational scenes from family life. This painting belongs to the collection of these portraits and compositions that are excellent examples of Brožík’s social subjects painted in the spirit of Dutch minuscule painting. It is a masterful painting created under the influence of his study trip to Holland.”