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Lot 190
Jiří John (1923 - 1972) A HIBERNATION

1969
oil on canvas
90 x 80 cm (h x w)
sign. lower right: J. John 69

Starting price

900 000 CZK
| 39 130 €

Price realized

3 000 000 CZK
| 130 435 €

price without premium

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The key element of Jiří John was the land. He was looking for elementary forms, natural processes, the cycle of falling asleep and resurrection. The fate of the landscape laid bare in a single dormant germ of life becomes a small sliver of hope in the bleak winter. The almost monochromatic composition Hibernation with undulations simulating soil modeling and a small vegetal island tries to touch the metaphysical absolute. An immortal beetle that seemingly dies in the cold comes alive at the first rays of light. Jiří Šetlík, from whose collection the work comes, described it as follows: "This is the strange beetle that digs in the layers of the earth, because it survived the ice flow and is a sign of the constant renewal of life."

Published in:

Zemina, J.: Jiří John. Arbor Vitae, 2019. p. 245

Šetlík, J., Vrba, T.: Jiří Šetlík: They accompany me through life. Museum of Art and Design Benešov, 2019. pp. 22 - 25, 30