Lot 88
Ladislav Beneš (1883 - 1956) SPEED, STRENGTH, RESISTANCE

1921
Bronze, marble
70 cm (h)
Marked on back: "L. BENEŠ" and debossed mark of Brothers Barták Prague. Inscriptions along sides of plinth: "RYCHLOST/ SÍLA/ ODPOR/ VÍTĚZI SOUTĚŽE SPOLEHLIVOSTI ČESKOSLOVENSKEM 1921 - MINISTERSTVO NÁRODNÍ OBRANY" ("Speed / Strength / Resistance / Winner o

Starting price

85 000 CZK
| 3 333 €

Price realized

100 000 CZK
| 3 922 €

price without premium

Previous work Next work

Sculptor Ladislav Beneš, together with Jan Štursa and Otakar Španiel, can unquestionably be included among the most important exponents of their generation, applying a new understanding of classicism to their work. Beneš composed the sculpture, which was commissioned by the Czechoslovak Ministry of National Defense, in the spirit of a new philosophy as an allegory of movement as represented by female nudes of Speed, Strength and Resistance. The modern era can also be sensed from the automobile, from which the towering sculpted figures are thrust forward.

Ladislav Beneš, who studied under Professors Celda Klouček and Stanislav Sucharda, was a member of the Mánes Union of Fine Artists in 1907–1934 and Umělecká Beseda from 1911. Although unfairly forgotten in his home country, his work has been exhibited in Cologne, Zagreb, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Munich and Vienna.