Lot 228

Bohumil Kafka (1878 - 1942) BUST OF JOSEF MÁNES

The idea of creating a monument to Josef Mánes, who symbolized Czech culture during the German occupation, had been forming long before Bohumil Kafka took up the theme. In 1940, Mánes' monument was enlarged to its final height of 342 cm. Kafka was inspired by Max Švabinský's well-known graphic portrait of Mánes. The head is raised and the gaze fixed in the distance. Work on the statue, which was filmed for a short documentary, was completed in 1939. Published: Kafka, Bohumil and Wittlich, Petr. Bohumil Kafka: (1878-1942): The Story of a Sculptor. Prague: Karolinum, 2014, p. 211.