Lot 106
Ondřej Sekora (1899 - 1967) FERDY THE ANT - BOOK COVER

1936
ink, watercolour, gouache on paper
30 x 22 cm (h x w)
unsigned

Starting price
40 000 CZK
   |   1 739 €
Price realized
140 000 CZK
   |   6 087 €
price without premium

Illustration of the title page of the now publicly known book Ferda the Ant, which became an inspiration for short children's films. Ondřej Sekora considered ants to be an animal species that has something to pass on to children. The witty and energetic Ferdy is not afraid to try anything new and everything goes right for him. But in order not to bore the children so much, Ondřej Sekora added colourful characters to other characters, such as Bug Butterfingers, who added a grotesque element to the plot.He himself was very inspired by contemporary cinema, but unfortunately he mostly failed to apply the knowledge from cinema in practice. The drawing presented here is a design for the cover of a book in prose - Ferdy the Ant. The book originally had only 14 colour illustrations and 69 black-and-white ones, but in 1958 the proportion of black-and-white and colour illustrations was more or less equal. Interestingly, to make things easier, the original inscription on the door "Work of all kinds" has been blacked out in white and transcribed into Finnish for the foreign language edition. 

Ondřej Sekora, the Author:

Ondřej Sekora collected butterflies and bugs, played sports, read a lot and liked to draw. He originally studied law and then painting at UMPRUM in Prague, founded the magazine Sport and promoted rugby in our country. He also devoted himself to music. Ferdy the Ant was created in Ondřej Sekora's mind in Paris in 1927. He did not have a polka dot scarf and the pictures were black and white. Back then, he was still a caricature of himself - a young man who was more of a troublemaker than a worker, who got drunk, fought, and pulled all sorts of pranks. But the cartoons were the birthplace of the first characters, which took on a familiar form around 1933. Josef Hokr, who urged Sekora to rewrite the poems into prose, also helped him form the character of Ferdy the Ant. Ferda gradually turns from a troublemaker into a rather mischievous boy, and subsequently, in Ferdy's syllabary, into a teacher who gives the letters in an accessible form in shapes that children know intimately. His approach to teaching the children was very sensitive - he gave them the idea, in a cartoonish way, that they already knew what he was trying to convey. Ondřej Sekora considered Ferda to be his best work. Unfortunately, the fate of Ondřej Sekora was not always connected only with children's laughter. In 1941, he was fired from Lidové noviny and banned from freelancing. His wife Ludmila was of Jewish descent, so he tried to have his wife and son baptized and contracted a church marriage. Unfortunately, he was still deported to a labor camp and his wife to Terezín. Although his family survived the war, his views were strongly influenced and the communist authorities used his work to promote themselves. However, he produced countless works that made him immensely popular, especially with children; he was behind the first attempts at television broadcasting for children, unofficially played puppet theatre and held talks with children all over the country. Ondřej Sekora's contribution to Czech children's literature is invaluable.

More works from auction

ALTAR WINGS

Lot 1 Unknown author ALTAR WINGS

Starting price
60 000 CZK | 2 609 €
Price realized
180 000 CZK | 7 826 €
MADONNA WITH JESUS AND ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

Lot 2 Master of the Fiesole epiphany MADONNA WITH JESUS AND ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

Starting price
800 000 CZK | 34 783 €
Price realized
1 700 000 CZK | 73 913 €
MADONNA WITH CHILD

Lot 3 MADONNA WITH CHILD

Starting price
45 000 CZK | 1 957 €
Price realized
50 000 CZK | 2 174 €
MADONNA WITH A CHILD

Lot 4 MADONNA WITH A CHILD

Starting price
45 000 CZK | 1 957 €
Price realized
50 000 CZK | 2 174 €
URANIA

Lot 5 Prague school URANIA

Starting price
180 000 CZK | 7 826 €
Price realized
370 000 CZK | 16 087 €
ADORATION OF SHEPHERDS

Lot 6 Unknown Flemish master ADORATION OF SHEPHERDS

Starting price
120 000 CZK | 5 217 €
Price realized
120 000 CZK | 5 217 €
ALLEGORY OF AIR

Lot 7 Anthonie van Borssom (1631 - 1677) ALLEGORY OF AIR

Starting price
55 000 CZK | 2 391 €
Price realized
110 000 CZK | 4 783 €
HUNTING DIANA

Lot 8 Neznámý Holandský Mistr HUNTING DIANA

Starting price
55 000 CZK | 2 391 €
Price realized
55 000 CZK | 2 391 €
TWO BAROQUE SMALL SCULPTURES

Lot 9 TWO BAROQUE SMALL SCULPTURES

Starting price
35 000 CZK | 1 522 €
Price realized
70 000 CZK | 3 043 €
SAINT MARY MAGDALENE

Lot 10 SAINT MARY MAGDALENE

Starting price
12 000 CZK | 522 €
Price realized
20 000 CZK | 870 €
CERAMIC TANKARD IN GILDED MOUNTING

Lot 11 CERAMIC TANKARD IN GILDED MOUNTING

Starting price
40 000 CZK | 1 739 €
Price realized
42 000 CZK | 1 826 €
A MANNERIST CHEST

Lot 12 A MANNERIST CHEST

Starting price
55 000 CZK | 2 391 €
Price realized
70 000 CZK | 3 043 €
A PAIR OF MANNERIST SGABELLO CHAIRS

Lot 13 A PAIR OF MANNERIST SGABELLO CHAIRS

Starting price
24 000 CZK | 1 043 €
Price realized
30 000 CZK | 1 304 €
A PAIR OF MANNERIST ARMCHAIRS

Lot 14 A PAIR OF MANNERIST ARMCHAIRS

Starting price
30 000 CZK | 1 304 €
Price realized
30 000 CZK | 1 304 €
ALLEGORY OF TIME

Lot 15 ALLEGORY OF TIME

Starting price
110 000 CZK | 4 783 €
Price realized
290 000 CZK | 12 609 €
PORTRAIT OF A NOBLEMAN

Lot 16 Unknown author PORTRAIT OF A NOBLEMAN

Starting price
8 000 CZK | 348 €
Price realized
8 000 CZK | 348 €
PORTRAIT OF A NOBLEMAN

Lot 17 Unknown author PORTRAIT OF A NOBLEMAN

Starting price
12 000 CZK | 522 €
Price realized
15 000 CZK | 652 €
LANDSCAPE NEAR VENICE

Lot 18 Francesco Guardi (1712 - 1793) (follower) LANDSCAPE NEAR VENICE

Starting price
18 000 CZK | 783 €
Price realized
24 000 CZK | 1 043 €
A PLATE

Lot 19 A PLATE

Starting price
40 000 CZK | 1 739 €
Price realized
40 000 CZK | 1 739 €
A ZITTAU PLATE

Lot 20 A ZITTAU PLATE

Starting price
45 000 CZK | 1 957 €
Price realized
45 000 CZK | 1 957 €
A HABAN PLATE

Lot 21 A HABAN PLATE

Starting price
55 000 CZK | 2 391 €
A HABAN PLATE

Lot 22 A HABAN PLATE

Starting price
70 000 CZK | 3 043 €
Price realized
120 000 CZK | 5 217 €
A HABAN JUG WITH LID

Lot 23 A HABAN JUG WITH LID

Starting price
55 000 CZK | 2 391 €
Price realized
55 000 CZK | 2 391 €
A POSTHABAN TANKARD

Lot 24 A POSTHABAN TANKARD

Starting price
48 000 CZK | 2 087 €
A POSTHABAN TANKARD

Lot 25 Josefus Florian Matzke (1748 - 1830) A POSTHABAN TANKARD

Starting price
25 000 CZK | 1 087 €
A REGENCE PERIOD FRENCH CONSOLE TABLE

Lot 26 A REGENCE PERIOD FRENCH CONSOLE TABLE

Starting price
30 000 CZK | 1 304 €
Price realized
32 000 CZK | 1 391 €
AN ITALIAN BAROQUE MIRROR

Lot 27 AN ITALIAN BAROQUE MIRROR

Starting price
65 000 CZK | 2 826 €
Price realized
65 000 CZK | 2 826 €
A BAROQUE MIRROR

Lot 28 A BAROQUE MIRROR

Starting price
28 000 CZK | 1 217 €
Price realized
28 000 CZK | 1 217 €
A PRAGUE BAROQUE TABLE CLOCK

Lot 29 A PRAGUE BAROQUE TABLE CLOCK

Starting price
40 000 CZK | 1 739 €
Price realized
60 000 CZK | 2 609 €
MÜLLER'S MAP OF BOHEMIA

Lot 30 Jan Kryštof Müller (1673 - 1721) MÜLLER'S MAP OF BOHEMIA

Starting price
120 000 CZK | 5 217 €
AN EMPIRE CHANDELIER

Lot 31 AN EMPIRE CHANDELIER

Starting price
85 000 CZK | 3 696 €
Price realized
85 000 CZK | 3 696 €
AN EMPIRE TABLE CLOCK

Lot 32 AN EMPIRE TABLE CLOCK

Starting price
80 000 CZK | 3 478 €
Price realized
100 000 CZK | 4 348 €
INTERIOR OF ANCIENT TEMPLE

Lot 33 Ludvík Kohl (1746 - 1821) INTERIOR OF ANCIENT TEMPLE

Starting price
120 000 CZK | 5 217 €
Price realized
140 000 CZK | 6 087 €
LANDSCAPE WITH A LAKE

Lot 34 František Xaver Procházka (1740 - 1815) (attributed) LANDSCAPE WITH A LAKE

Starting price
18 000 CZK | 783 €
Price realized
28 000 CZK | 1 217 €
ARCH OF TRIUMPH IN MILAN

Lot 35 Balthazar Wigand (1771 - 1846) ARCH OF TRIUMPH IN MILAN

Starting price
10 000 CZK | 435 €
ITALIAN LANDSCAPE

Lot 36 Jan Nowopacký (1821 - 1908) ITALIAN LANDSCAPE

Starting price
45 000 CZK | 1 957 €
Price realized
47 000 CZK | 2 043 €