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From the Series "Winds from the Poles" (Illustrations for the Poetry by Otokar Březina)

Frantisek Kobliha

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-2060
Author: Frantisek Kobliha
Name: From the Series "Winds from the Poles" (Illustrations for the Poetry by Otokar Březina)
Date of creation: 1945
Country: Czech Republic
Technique: lithography
Material: paper
Dimensions: 26.5 x 21 cm (height x width)

Additionally

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

Information about author

Author: Frantisek Kobliha
Author in the original: František 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

Space landscape with black, sharp rocks in the foreground and white, sharp peaks in the background, reminiscent of the Gothic architecture of a fantasy city. Deep in the dark sky are large clusters of stars.

Inscriptions

The engraving has initials on the left side: "FK". Under the engraving on the left, along the edge of the white field is a pencil inscription in Czech: "Z kosmickych visi – vernis – lyt" [From cosmic visions – vernis]; on the right side of the engraving is the author's signature: "F. Kobliha". On the mat in the right corner: "Г-IV-2060" (No. 26).

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

From the Series "Winds from the Poles" (Illustrations for the Poetry by Otokar Březina)

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