Paintings by Toyen, Mucha and Preisler up for auction this Sunday
More than 140 works of art are set to be put up for auction this month at the Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery in Prague. They include art from some of the most renowned Czech painters such as Alfons Mucha, Toyen and Jan Presiler.
The auction is set to take place this Sunday in the Manes Gallery located in the centre of Prague. Aneta Kopecká from the Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery, which lies within the Mánes building, says that it will likely have to take place online, if government measures do not loosen up by then.
The most exquisite item at the auction is the Circus painting by Marie Čermínová, who is known in the art world under the pseudonym Toyen. The oil painting was made in 1925 during what is known as the artist’s Parisian phase. The director of the auction hall, Vladimír Lekeš, told news site Aktuálně.cz that the painting is one of the most important works of art produced by Toyen and shows that the artist was ahead of global art trends at the time.
Toyen paintings from the Parisian phase are particularly popular among art collectors. The starting price for Circus lies at CZK 23 million, but could reach a far higher price, as the sale of another Toyen painting, Queen of Spades, for nearly CZK 79 million shows.
The auction will also see the sale of a painting by the internationally renowned Czech painter Alfons Mucha. His painting Pohled do budoucnosti (A look into the future), has a starting price of CZK 3.5 million. The painting features a poetic depiction of a beautiful young woman who symbolises the Slavs, Vladimír Lekeš told Aktuálně.cz. The painting was originally owned by the artist’s physician Karel Bobek.
The art handlers at the gallery are also excited about the auction of the 1906 painting Tři dívky v lese (Three girls in the wood) by Jan Preisler. The starting price for this work of art is CZK 14.9 million. An art professor, as well as a painter, Jan Preisler dabbled in Neo-Romanticism, Symbolism and Art Nuveau during his career. Just as contemporary Alfons Mucha, Preisler’s work can also be seen in the artwork adorning Prague’s Municipal House.
Over a dozen drawings of the Czech painter and graphic artist František Kupka are also being put up for sale at the auction with starting prices ranging from CZK 25,000-150,000. Kupka’s bronze medal of Miss KIN, based on the famous drawing that became the logo of Czech company Koh-i-Noor, is also up for auction. Just as the drawings, the art piece comes from the collection of Jindřich Waldes, who was the founder of Koh-i-Noor and Kupka’s benefactor.
The auction will feature works of art from several other notable artists, including Bernard Buffet, Jiří Georg Dokoupil and Běla Kolářová.
