Lot 65

Rudolf Kremlička (1886 - 1932) AT A TABLE

From the expert opinion of PhDr. Karel Srp: "This painting is an early example of Rudolf Kremlička’s work during his transition from his Schwaiger period to modern painting. It is a small, extremely lively glimpse into an interior, depicting two men at a table in a café, smoking pipes with glasses of beer in front of them—that is, one of the typical genre scenes with which Kremlička was heavily engaged; yet here we can already see that he was more interested in the execution of the painting itself than in the subject matter, that he was captivated by the modern style of painting that transcended the theme. Here we see the seeds of the future Kremlička, even in terms of color scheme, with its use of gray tones. Kremlička drew on static scenes that he had observed with precision. Two men at a round café table, a dark window opening, and a white wall behind them. A small painting, yet executed with considerable perspective, featuring a broad and precise painterly focus, unified by his own distinctive style. A tremor permeates the entire painting, introducing an inner movement that frees the artist from previous descriptiveness. The painting may vaguely recall, very loosely, Paul Cézanne’s Card Players. On the reverse side is a note by art theorist Václav Nebeský: “In my opinion, a work by Rudolf Kremlička from 1915–16.” In Prague, December 18, 1948, Dr. V. Nebeský. Nebeský had long been interested in Kremlička and knew him personally. Since I have studied his work, I can confirm the authenticity of the inscription.”