VÁCLAV ŠPÁLA (Zlunice 1885 - 1946 Prag)

VÁCLAV ŠPÁLA (Zlunice 1885 - 1946 Prague) Marsh marigolds in a pitcher, 1941 oil/canvas, 53 x 39 cm signed V. Spala, dated 41, verso inventory number 1358 depicted in catalogue raisonne Vaclav Spala, Prague 2002, p. 72 the authenticity has been confirmed by Dr. Rea Michalova, the certificate is included ESTIMATE € 30000 - 50000 STARTING PRICE € 30000 Václav Špála, who is one of the main representatives of Cubism and Expressionism in Czechoslovak painting, was of rural origins. From 1899 to 1902, he attended the school for metalworking in Königgrätz. When he was not accepted into the Prague School of Applied Arts, he studied at Ferdinand Engelmüller's private school for landscape painting. From 1903, he studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, among other things. with Vlaho Bukovac and František Thiele, but stopped studying in 1909. As a result, Špála lived mainly in Prague; However, he traveled to different areas of Bohemia painting. In 1907/8 he stayed in Ragusa (Dubrovnik). Further trips took him to Ragus (1910), to Paris (1911) and to Italy (1913). From 1907 to 1909, Špála was a member of the avant-garde group Osma, and from 1909 of the Mánes art association. In 1911 he left Mánes together with other artists due to differences of opinion and founded the avant-garde artist group Skupina výtvarných umelcu in the same year. Špála initially published numerous articles in their monthly magazine “Umelecký mesícník”. However, in 1912 he left with Josef Capek and Vlastislav Hofman and returned to the Mánes group, of which he was chairman from 1936 to 1939. In 1918, Špála founded the group Trvdošíjní with Capek and Kremlicka. Špála also worked with the artistic workshops “Artel”, of which he was a member and board of directors. Posters, illustrations and scenographic designs are particularly well known from his hand. In his painting he combined lyrical cubism with rhythmic composition and strong colours. His personal conception of images was associated with Fauvism, Orphism and abstraction painting. Špála was influenced by folklore, folk culture and art and was therefore closer to Josef and Karel Capek than to the “orthodox” Prague Cubists. He later developed his style in a more traditional way, in his landscapes as well as floral still lifes with flowers, using a color scale centered on blue tones. In his later works he again used a wider colour spectrum, with lower colour intensity. In 1959, the state-owned Českého fondu výtvarných umění was renamed „Galerie Václava Špály“ in his honour. PLEASE NOTE: The purchase price consists of the highest bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and, if applicable, the fee of artists resale rights. In the case of normal taxation (marked °), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax of 13%, for photographs 20%, is added to the sum of the highest bid and the buyer's premium. The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.