Antonín Slavíček
Still Life with Pears
Artist
Antonín Slavíček
(1870, Praha - 1910, Praha), Czech
Original Title
Still Life with Pears
Date1910
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions 26,5 × 31 cm
Classificationspaintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionAntonín Slavíček is considered the most important Czech landscape painter of the late 19th and early 20th century. Slavíček’s innovative work, stemming from his unconventional, temperamental personality, significantly transcended contemporary stylistic norms and primarily focused on the painterly experience of the landscape. During the late 1890s, his forest-inspired interiors still remained in line with conventional tendencies of the time, defined by melancholic, atmospheric portrayals of landscapes. Slavíček primarily focused on autumnal moods inspired by the landscapes of the Veltrusy Park and Prague’s Obora Hvězda forest park. Soon thereafter, he abandoned the contemporary melancholic aesthetic in favor of a distinctive, original artistic approach based on the portrayal of open landscapes with strong emphasis on depicting the sky and atmospheric conditions. This allowed Slavíček to produce more dynamic pictorial compositions and combine landscape painting with his own inner tensions and temperament. This new approach to painting was also linked to the turn toward a painterly focus on light and a distinctive style based on working with patches of color. Slavíček thus intuitively developed a unique, expressive version of impressionism, which he conceived of as an interpretation of the landscape purely through painterly experimentation. His emphasis on austere painterly devices—which he became acquainted with while working in town of Kameničky in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands between 1903 and 1906—became translated into manifestations of mundanity, ugliness, and an interest in atmospheric conditions evident in Slavíček’s paintings of Prague with motifs of the Old Town and the disappearing Jewish Quarter. A distinctive and progressive element of Slavíček’s oeuvre are his quick sketches on small wooden boards, depicting rural and urban motifs. The hasty style of these works, as well as their focus on the documentation of atmospheric conditions, represent a notable instance of modernist artistic expression, foreshadowing the shift of Czech art toward expressionist tendencies. Slavíček’s mature landscape paintings of Prague, produced toward the end of his short life, are defined by a new energy which unmistakably departs from melancholic dreaminess and reflects the image of a modern city with a rich history
Still Life with Pears (1910) dates from the ultimate part of Slavíček’s oeuvre, along with several similarly conceived paintings. Slavíček painted these small pieces while recovering from a stroke and coping with the deficiencies of his body. These hasty, wet-on-wet artworks demonstrate the modernist aspects of his work.
Antonín Slavíček (1870, Prague – 1910, Prague) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, in Jullius Mařák’s landscape painting studio, twice interrupting his studies (1887, 1891–1894). After Mařák’s death, Slavíček became the unofficial leader of the upcoming generation of artists; however, the evolution of his career was hindered by the dissolution of the landscape painting studio in 1900. During the first years of the 20th century, Slavíček’s pieces were among the most progressive works shown at the exhibitions of the Mánes Union of Fine Artists. The Mánes Union also exhibited at the shows of Vienna’s Hagenbund art group (1901, 1911). Slavíček was one of the artists representing Czech art at the 1904 World Expo in Saint Louise, and in he was among the representatives of Czech art at the international exhibition of the 1910 Venice Biennale. In 1907, he attended a month-long scholarship stay in Paris, where he encountered expressionism already as a mature artist with his own artistic opinions. The influence of impressionism subsequently echoes in his impressions of Prague’s parks and his unfinished paintings of the Old Town Square (1908) and the St. Vitus Cathedral dome (1909). In 1909, he travelled to Dubrovnik, but this trip did not significantly influence his work. That same year, he suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed; consequently, Slavíček committed suicide in 1910. Today, extensive collections of his work are held by the National Gallery Prague and the Gallery of Modern Art in Roudnice nad Labem. The last retrospective exhibition of Slavíček’s work took place in the Prague City Gallery in 2004.
Still Life with Pears (1910) dates from the ultimate part of Slavíček’s oeuvre, along with several similarly conceived paintings. Slavíček painted these small pieces while recovering from a stroke and coping with the deficiencies of his body. These hasty, wet-on-wet artworks demonstrate the modernist aspects of his work.
Antonín Slavíček (1870, Prague – 1910, Prague) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, in Jullius Mařák’s landscape painting studio, twice interrupting his studies (1887, 1891–1894). After Mařák’s death, Slavíček became the unofficial leader of the upcoming generation of artists; however, the evolution of his career was hindered by the dissolution of the landscape painting studio in 1900. During the first years of the 20th century, Slavíček’s pieces were among the most progressive works shown at the exhibitions of the Mánes Union of Fine Artists. The Mánes Union also exhibited at the shows of Vienna’s Hagenbund art group (1901, 1911). Slavíček was one of the artists representing Czech art at the 1904 World Expo in Saint Louise, and in he was among the representatives of Czech art at the international exhibition of the 1910 Venice Biennale. In 1907, he attended a month-long scholarship stay in Paris, where he encountered expressionism already as a mature artist with his own artistic opinions. The influence of impressionism subsequently echoes in his impressions of Prague’s parks and his unfinished paintings of the Old Town Square (1908) and the St. Vitus Cathedral dome (1909). In 1909, he travelled to Dubrovnik, but this trip did not significantly influence his work. That same year, he suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed; consequently, Slavíček committed suicide in 1910. Today, extensive collections of his work are held by the National Gallery Prague and the Gallery of Modern Art in Roudnice nad Labem. The last retrospective exhibition of Slavíček’s work took place in the Prague City Gallery in 2004.
