Lot 110

Břetislav Benda (1897 - 1983) WOMAN WITH APPLE III

After I and II, this is the third and final version of the sculpture of a woman with an apple, which was also installed in the exterior of Chotek Gardens in front of the Queen Anne's Summerhouse. It was unfortunately stolen in 1998 and later found already cut up in the salvage yard. Jiří Kotalík writes about the sculpture Woman with an Apple: 'In two study variations, Sketch for the Girl with an Apple and Eva, the type of the standing girl crystallized in 1932, which then in its final realization reached a balance and fullness of forms, as if resounding from within with the melodies of youth, beauty, life; the sculpture is deliberately resolved in the views from all sides and therefore excellently applied in the exterior.' During his lifetime, Břetislav Benda created an extensive body of work of more than one hundred life-size and larger-than-life sculptures. "I do not know of a more precious motif than the human body, especially the female body." These words capture the central theme of his artistic expression, which completes the neo-classical current in 20th century Czech sculpture. The sculpture comes from the artist's estate and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. Kotalík J.: Břetislav Benda, Prague, 1982. p. 23.