Josef Capek

Emil Synek, Paris (acquired in Prague in the 1930s)
Thence by descent to the present owner

The canvas is not lined and both sides of the canvas are painted. Recto (Cubist Landscape): UV examination reveals no evidence of retouching. There is a layer of surface dirt and this work would benefit from a clean. There is an extremely fine line of craquelure running intermittently horizontally across the lower third of the composition. Otherwise, this work is in overall very good condition and there is some lovely fluffy impasto to some of the white pigments. Verso (Contemplation): UV examination reveals a few small spots of retouching towards the upper left corner and it appears that the signature and date (lower right) have been strengthened in places. There is a fine diagonal scratch to the left of the signature and a further small horizontal scratch above the signature. There is some minor frame rubbing to parts of the left and right extreme edges. Otherwise, this work is in overall very good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted in 1915, this powerful double-sided work displays the hallmark angular style of Čapek's paintings of this period, and counts among his early Cubist masterpieces. Portraying on the verso a contemplative girl in a Madonna like pose, with the graduation of light and shadow creating a halo-like effect around her, and on the recto an abstract, Cubist Landscape with houses, a bridge, sky, earth and water represented by rhythmic, dynamic planes, texturised by the application of thick impasto, both sides of the canvas are diametrically opposed: one exuding calm and introspection, whereas the swirling Cubist Landscapedemonstrates Čapek's experimentation with perspective at its most sophisticated.

Josef Čapek studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (1904-1910) and at the Academie Colarossi in Paris (1910-11) where he met Guillaume Apollinaire. This stay in Paris had a formative influence on his artistic output. At the same time, the highly influential Czech art historian and collector Vincent Kramar started a three year sojourn in the French capital, and began collecting works by Picasso, Braque and Derain. It is likely that Čapek and Kramar  would have met, as they shared the same circle of friends and artistic interests at the time. They were subsequently  both instrumental in introducing French Cubism to the Czech art world. In the years that followed (1912-1914), Picasso, Braque, Derain and Gris exhibited their works in Prague at the exhibitions of The Group of Fine Artists, and in 1922, SVU Manes, with the help of Vincent Kramar, organised Picasso's first one-man show in Prague. Čapek was a member of both groups, which became the most important proponents of Cubism in Central Europe.

Initially drawn to Cubism and tribal art, Čapek had returned to Prague in 1911 and joined the Group of Fine Artists. In 1912 he left to join the Czech avant-garde artist's association SVU Manes. The 45th exhibition of SVU Manesin 1914 was organised by Čapek as an international survey of contemporary art. It included his own paintings as well as works by Louis Marcoussis, Alexander Archipenko, Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Piet Mondrian, Constantin Brancusi and Jacques Villon.

Čapek's work has to be seen in the context of these contemporaries, and artists such as Picasso and Braque, with whom he stood at the forefront of Modernism. While Contemplation is a unique synthesis of the traditional with the modern that explores figurative Cubism fused with traditional Central European Folk art, and in its sober and earthy tonality is reminiscent of Picasso's Portrait d'un jeune homme of 1915, Cubist landscape relates more closely to the linear cubism of Piet Mondrian, and works such as his ground-breaking painting Flowering Appletree of 1912 (fig. 1), his first move towards abstract art.

Contemplation & Cubist Landscape was purchased in Prague in the early 1930s by the well-known Czech writer Emil Synek, in whose family collection it has remained ever since. Himself considered as the successor to Josef Čapek's brother, the writer Karel Čapek, Emil Synek was born in Czechoslovakia, and studied both in Prague and Paris.  Initially a lawyer by profession, his first literary piece, Rychlebove, became hugely successful upon publication, and Synek subsequently became a highly influential novelist, journalist and theatre writer. He emigrated to France in the late 1930s and married the Czech actress and theatre director Evza Budlovska.