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Oil on canvas. Signed lower right: “J. V. Barnet 137/1941”. Reverse: “Tanečnice Lily, No 137, Paris 194”. Figurative motifs, which are rather unusual for Barnet, bear strong influences and echoes of modern French art. This small canvas is an example of his reflections on Fauvism, with the artist shaping the face with pure color, rejecting classic shading and focusing on a greater field of color. There is a conspicuous element of decorativism and a reduced color range. The artist's numbering of his works is another interesting detail. In 1959, Czech painter Josef Směšný started to sign his works with the pseudonym Barnet. A student of Josef Loukota, Jakub Obrovský and Max Švabinsky at Prague's Academy of Fine Arts, he went on to study at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and the École du Louvre. Barnet was fundamentally influenced by his studies in France; Van Gogh's sunflowers were also a major source of inspiration, and he went on to make 200 paintings dedicated to the theme. Barnet's oeuvre is represented in the National Gallery in Prague and the Cité Universitaire in Paris.