Lot 243

Břetislav Benda (1897 - 1983) BOŽENA

This is a smaller version of the large white marble statue of Božena from 1922. Jiří Kotalík writes about it: "Božena deliberately resembles the type of full-figured girl from the Czech myth about a ruling prince and a peasant girl, which also appears in paintings and drawings by Josef Bergler and Antonín Machka, Josef Mánes and Petr Maixner, Mikoláš Alš and František Ženíšek, with a gradual degradation in meaning and an increase in visual appeal over the years. The sculptor's vision emphasises fullness of form and rustic health in the neoclassical smoothness of gestures and shapes, expression and details. The statue is pasted together.