Lot 121

Jan Zrzavý (1890 - 1977) BOATS IN PORT

Jan Zrzavý significantly influenced the development of our modern culture with his authentic creative imagination, in which he connected the Czech line of spiritual lyricism with European modernism. Very soon he found his own way of expression, which mirrors the phenomenal reality indirectly, in elaborate signs and symbols. From the expert assessment of PhDr. Rea Michalová PhD .: "Boats in the Harbor", depicting the author's admired Bretagne landscape, is Zrzavý's beautiful work, which could be said to have originated as a "concentrated meditation", brilliantly connecting the author's original worldview with concrete reality in the order of maximum harmony. In a scenery with silent barge shells swaying in the rhythm of curly waves, framed by the rustic masses of harbor piers, the author brilliantly managed to capture the dreamy moment of motionless balance resulting from the interaction of two forces - land and sea. We can even talk about "peace in eternal movement". Jan Zrzavý decided to paint at an early age and pursued his goal despite the initial resistance of the family, poor health and ultimately the inability to adapt to the requirements of academic education. Study at the School of Applied Arts in Prague with Prof. Emanuel Dítě was too much formalist, so he considered it useless and was expelled from school in 1909. He was fascinated mainly by lyrical, closed, dreamily soft shape. Its imagery was shaped by frequent trips and stays abroad, especially in Italy and France."