Černý Karel 1910–1960

Still-life, 1932

oil on canvas, frame, 24 × 35 cm, label of the Waldes Picture Gallery on the reverse, under No. 2282
Karel Černý became one of the most distinctive Czech painters of the generation that matured in the years before the Second World War. In his landscape and figurative paintings he drew on the Czech and European avant-garde, was influenced by both Fauvism and Cubism, and soon achieved an unmistakable poetic expression. After the war, his work was influenced by repeated trips to France and especially by the atmosphere of Paris. In his almost magical melancholic paintings, he approached the work of Henri Matisse and Raoul Dufy. His expression developed naturally from an early period until the end of his life, characterized by his expressive handwriting and strong contours, his views of cafés or paintings with motifs of lovers are charming.