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Oil on canvas. Signed lower right: “V. Špála 39”. Left center: “V. Špála”. Reverse: “V. Špála (1176.) Kytice” and the Mánes shop stamp. A beautiful and impressive example of a treatment of a still life with a bouquet, which Špála was able to elevate to an unequivocal experience. The attractiveness of the work is further enhanced by the fact that it comes from the artist's own estate and is housed in a period frame. Red and yellow painted tulips in a simple folk pitcher stand out in contrast against a blue background. The composition, at first sight with the bouquet in the center, provides another interesting new dimension in the background – a view of the landscape of Špála's own painting. The transition to the next visual space is indicated with an outline and his typical signature to the center left of the painting. The Czech painter, printmaker and illustrator attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague under Professors Vlaho Bukovac and Franz Thiele. However, he never completed his studies. His early work was based in Expressionism and Fauvism. He later he was influenced by Cubism, but started to depart from it in 1923, when he began painting landscapes, still lifes and bouquets dominated by a single color tone. From the 1930s Špála's possessed maturity and liberation; his works continued to be dominated by still lifes and flowers, as well as portraits of himself and his family. However, in his expanded color pallet, blue remained dominant. He exhibited with the Tvrdošíjní (“Stubborn Ones”) art group, was a member of the Mánes Union of Fine Artists, and took part in the activities of Osma art group.