Lot 94

František Bílek (1872 - 1941) CRUCIFIX

The crucifixion – Bílek treats this powerful religious scene as a symbol of redemption and submission. Beams and ropes are attached to the cross on which Jesus is crucified. Bílek gives the impression that he placed them on the tablet as a true memento of redeption. As Vilém Nečas writes in his book Bílek. Svědectví o bratru Františkovi [Bílek. An Account About My Brother František]: “It is the tree of life, the holy wood of the Redeemer, the triumphant cross! On it the body of Christ is not falling, as it is on other crosses, in the weary, tattered, powerless agony of death; He is not a horrifying scrap of meat and bones, depicted before his fall from the blood-curdling nails; He is overcoming the laws of matter and gravitation.”

Christ’s body is straight, with open arms and although his face is marked by pain and drops of blood, he is accepting his destiny in relaxed contemplation. Perhaps Bílek captured the exact moment Christ’s soul no longer perceived the material work and floated into the immaterial world. František Bílek masterfully diverts the viewer from the act of suffering, guiding them directly to the essence of the event and the symbolism of Christ’s crucifixion. This crossover from the spiritual in František Bílek’s oeuvre is difficult to grasp among today’s audiences. Praying to God belonged to his everyday routine, and he usually have the Gospels open on his desk. In his time he was often criticised, as in this case by Professor Myslbek: “You didn’t have to go to Paris for that! How do you expect to support a wife and children someday?” However, French sculptor Antoine Bourdell called Bílek’s oeuvre original, attempting in no way to copy the work of another artist. In 1909 Bílek became a member of Umělecká Beseda (UB) and he first exhibited with UB in 1913. An artist of versatile talents, he was also a printmaker and often included texts with his own typeface designs in his works.

A variation of this cross in patinated ceramic is located at the Prague City Gallery under inventory number P-1483.

Cited in: Nečas V., Bílek: Svědectví o bratru Františkovi[Bílek. An Account About My Brother František], 2016.

An assessment of the work has been prepared by Professor PhDr. Petr Wittlich, CSc.