Lot 139
Jan Zrzavý (1890 - 1977) QUEEN OF THE SEAS

1948 - 1950
Tempera on plywood
69 x 109 cm (h x w)
Lower left "Jan Zrzavý 48", on revers "Královna moří Tempera 1948 Loď domalována 1950 J.Z."

Starting price
9 500 000 CZK
   |   380 000 €
Price realized
22 000 000 CZK
   |   880 000 €
price without premium

The Golden Beauty or the Queen of the Seas - the masterpiece of a series of ports and barges by Jan Zrzavý. On the back of the picture is an inscription by Dr. František Dvořák: "Chochola and I visited Zrzavý one evening in 1950. He had a mixed color on his palette and asked with a smile that was not typical of him if this color was royal enough that the painting was called the Queen of the Seas. We nodded and Red he painted the ship slowly and thoughtfully. He had such a strong emotional connection to this painting." Jan Zrzavý found his own way of expression, which mirrors the visible reality indirectly, in well-thought-out signs and symbols. Jan Zrzavý's sensory landscapes are a direct reflection of the facts and impressions that his travels left in him. Under the guise of a seemingly material form, an inner tension takes place, evident even under the arch of balance and fulfillment, peace and duration. Jan Zrzavý composes his own spiritual landscape, the landscape of "peace in eternal movement" and the search for the meaning of existence, where he came to a positive answer - understanding, acceptance and acceptance. The Queen of the Seas, like the legendary Argo, is a symbol of the end of the journey. A symbol of finding the meaning of life. Sovereign and coherent painting is a landscape of completely clear to tangible contours. Visible experience. The painting was originally supposed to be called the Golden Beauty and the ship was to be covered with gold leaf. Instead, Jan Zrzavý chose a glowing and exciting orange, a color that, by its very nature, catches the human eye at first sight. The Queen of the Seas is moored in a peaceful landscape at low tide between boulders. In beloved Brittany, where Jan Zrzavý found, in his own words, an intact land, living among the elements and the element itself - the promised land of his painting, an inexhaustible treasure trove of beauty and a source of painterly excitement. The authenticity of the work confirmed by Dr. František Dvořák on a double inscription from behind, also notes by J. Zrzavý. An expert opinion by PhDr. Rea Michalová Ph.D., PhDr. Jaromír Zemina, PhDr. J. Orlíková, Zora Grohmanova, radiography and detailed material research by academic painter and restorer Martin Martan.