Lot 39

Josef Mařatka (1874 - 1937) SYMPHONY

Symphony, in which Mařatka materializes his fundamental relationship to music, was created during the period when he was executing monumental sculptures for the Municipal House in Prague (in 1911–1913 he sculpted the larger-than-life statues Drama and Music). In spite of his evident musical talent, young Josef Mařatka decided to study at the School of Applied Arts in Prague under Professor Celda Klouček (1889-1892), moving on to Josef Václav Myslbek’s studio at Prague’s Academy of Fine Arts in 1896. In 1900 he received a scholarship from the Hlávka Foundation for his sculpture Ice Harvesters on the Moldau, and he used the funds to travel to what was then the world center of art – Paris. After a rough start and unable to speak French, he entered the studio of Auguste Rodin, slowly forging a close friendship with the sculptor. It was in fact largely due to Mařatka that a large Rodin exhibition was held in Prague in 1902, which went on to have a fundamental impact on the period’s young generation of artists.

Variant II is in the collections of Prague City Gallery (inv. no.: P – 742, plaster, 1913 and inv. no.: P – 1189, bronze, 1913).