Franz Dvorak

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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Czech painter Franz Dvoràk studied at the Academies of Fine Arts in Prague and Vienna and completed his training in Munich. He often painted children, a subject that underscores his academic and classical leanings, and his most celebrated works are those executed in pastel and watercolor. The present image is one of his finest, executed with technical precision and a stunningly vibrant array of pastels. The work illustrates a painting within a painting, and the clever narrative at hand—that of a nude boy, presumably the artist’s model, defiling the absent master’s painting—comically pokes fun at the modernizing aesthetic of a younger generation of artists.