Lot 124

Emil Holárek (1867 - 1919) THE BIRTH OF CAIN

A detailed drawing of a motif from the Book of Genesis, Eve gives birth to her firstborn son, whom she lifts up to the heavens and praises the Lord, with whose help she brought man into the world. The drawing is the model for the four-part lithographic cycle Adam and Eve (The Message). Compared to the print, the drawing has a mirror-inverted orientation and some details have been altered – the clouds, the final appearance of the faces is more stylized and less authentic in the case of the graphic. Emil Holárek was significantly influenced by the symbolist work of Max Klinger and worked on the decoration of Živnobanka together with M. Aleš and M. Švabinský.