Black Cat (From the Series "On the Poems and Writings by E. A. Poe")

Frantisek Kobliha

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-2037
Author: Frantisek Kobliha
Name: Black Cat (From the Series "On the Poems and Writings by E. A. Poe")
Date of creation: 1950–1952
Country: Czech Republic
Technique: lithography
Material: toned paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 38 x 24.8

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: symbolic art
Provenance: Gifted by Czech artists, 1971

Information about author

Author: Frantisek Kobliha
Artist's lifetime: 1877–1962
Country: Czech Republic
Biography: Frantisek Kobliha (1877–1962) was a Czech graphic artist and art critic. In 1910–1912, he headed the SURSUM group, whose members were engaged in artistic, spiritual, and occult practices. The members of the group were considered the second generation of Symbolists. Frantisek Kobliha was also one of the most influential artists and art critics of the Czech publication "Moderni Revue". Kobliha was educated in Prague at the Umprum School of Applied Arts (1896–1899) and then at the Academy of Arts, where he studied painting under Frantisek Zenisek, a representative of the academic painting style. In his creative work, Kobliha abandoned colour for black-and-white tonal variations. He worked in the techniques of lithography, drypoint, and wood engraving. In addition, he worked as a book illustrator. During the 1920s, the artist published works by such authors as Julius Zeyer (1841–1901), Jiří Karasek (1871–1951), Jan Opolsky (1875–1942), Rudolf Medek (1890–1940), and others. Kobliha also worked on bibliographical editions of literary works published by Kamilla Neumannova (1874–1957), often using floral motifs and the story's central figure as a frontal painting. The artist's oeuvre is characterised by an atmosphere of introspection and the creation of imaginary compositions, although his creative heritage also includes realistic landscapes from Czech villages. The main series of works by Frantisek Kobliha: "Simple Motifs" (1908), "Tristan" (1909–1910), a series of landscapes of Prague (1914), a series of lithographs "Fantasies of Moonlight Nights" (1944–1946), etc.

Object description

Illustration for the short story "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe. The illuminated half-length portrait of a woman with her hair down, wearing a dressing gown with lapels, is shown against a dark background. Her head is slightly tilted to the right, and her eyelids are lowered. A strand of dark hair falls from her forehead to her nose. On the woman's head is a black cat with a curved back and one wide-open eye.

Inscriptions

At the bottom left are the letters "FK" (author's mark), on the left below the engraving is the inscription "С 14 / 25", on the right – "F. Kobliha". In the lower right corner in Czech – "E. A. Poe. Black Cat – lithograph".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Black Cat (From the Series "On the Poems and Writings by E. A. Poe")

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