Beschreibung:

FRANTISEK URBAN (1868–1919) Angel Starting price: 650 000 CZK (24 528 EUR) Hammer price: 1 100 000 CZK (41 509 EUR) Description dimensions: 143,5 x 72,5 cm (h x w) period: 1902, Bohemia, Prague František Urban, one of František Ženíšek's first students at the School of Applied Arts in Prague, is one of the most distinctive fin de siècle figure painters. The principal part of his work comprises designs for church decorations and stained-glass windows. His work includes the window designs for Saint Ludmila Church in Vinohrady (Prague) and the murals and windows for Saint Barbara's Cathedral in Kutná Hora. In 1902–3 he worked with his wife to decorate the newly-built sections of the Church of St Peter and Paul at Vyšehrad. This is the period in which he made Angel, a fresh, lyrical Art Nouveau painting. Unlike in murals, the artist did not have to focus on the surface, allowing him to use a greater range of gradation and form volume. The painting has been exhibited at: Wings of Glory, Galerie Rudolfinum, September 2000–January 2001; Mysterious Distances | Symbolism in the Czech Lands 1880–1914, Olomouc Museum of Art, November 2014–February 2015; Władcy snów. Symbolizm na ziemiach czeskich 1880–1914, International Cultural Center, Krakow, May–September 2014. It is believed that the painting was also exhibited at collected exhibitions in 1921 and 1944. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated "F. Urban 1902" on bottom right.