Mucha’s “Nature” sculpture sets record on Czech art market
Alfons Mucha’s sculpture “Nature” sold at a major Prague auction for CZK 18.35 million including fees, setting a new domestic record for the artist, according to the European Arts Investments auction house. The bronze bust, created in 1900 and listed as a protected object of Czech cultural heritage, had a starting price of CZK 14.8 million.
The 70-centimeter bust of a woman, made of patinated bronze and malachite, was originally created by the Czech artist for the renowned Parisian jeweller Georges Fouquet. The auction house described it as portraying "a mysterious female profile with closed eyes, embodying a pagan goddess, esoteric mystery, and the symbol of humanity’s spiral development.” The work has become an iconic symbol of Mucha’s art and appears in numerous publications on turn-of-the-century art, as it synthesizes many of the era’s major artistic and intellectual currents.
The second-highest price at Saturday’s high-profile auction was achieved by Jakub Schikaneder’s painting Night Tram, which sold for CZK 16.6 million, well above its starting price of CZK 11 million, after intense bidding in the auction room, by phone, and online. Executed using traditional glazing techniques in delicate layers, the painting is regarded as one of Schikaneder’s most striking works.
So far, the most expensive painting sold at a Czech auction remains František Kupka’s Conception/Danae, which sold for CZK 126.5 million at Adolf Loos Apartment & Gallery in April 2024.
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