Lot 86

Karel Holan (1893 - 1953) PRAGUE NEIGHBORHOODS

This winter cityscape dates to the 1930s, when Holan was exhibiting tendencies towards New Realism and painting the mood of the city from his frequent walks in Prague. Masterfully, with thick layers of brown and white paint, he depicts the sunny corners of ancient Prague and its suburbs, uniquely presenting its fleeting beauty in everyday snapshots of the Czech capital.

Karel Holan was a Czech painter, printmaker, illustrator and teacher. He studied drawing privately under Václav Beneš and Otakar Nejedlý. In 1913 he entered the Czech Technical University to study architecture, but he never graduated as he was enlisted during World War I and wounded in action. After he was discharged in 1915, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and studied under professors Maximilián Pirner, Karel Krattner and Vlaho Bukovac. He was a member of Umělecká Beseda and in 1924 he co-founded and later became the spiritual leader of the Ho-Ho-Ko-Ko Social Group. Holan was also a member of the Mánes Union of Fine Artists and Myslbek Union of Fine Artists. His work is represented at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava, Prague City Gallery, and Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové. From the collection of Karel Kotrba.