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Prague. Chapel of St. Wenceslas

Frantisek Kobliha

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-2032
Author: Frantisek Kobliha
Name: Prague. Chapel of St. Wenceslas
Date of creation: 1937
Country: Czech Republic
Technique: etching
Material: paper
Dimensions: 32.5 x 24.5 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: symbolic art
Provenance: Gifted by Czech artists, 1971

Information about author

Author: Frantisek Kobliha
Author in the original: František Kobliha
Artist's lifetime: 1877–1962
Country: Czech Republic
Biography: Frantisek Kobliha (1877–1962) was a Czech graphic artist and art critic. In 1910–1912, he headed the SURSUM group, whose members were engaged in artistic, spiritual, and occult practices. The members of the group were considered the second generation of Symbolists. Frantisek Kobliha was also one of the most influential artists and art critics of the Czech publication "Moderni Revue". Kobliha was educated in Prague at the Umprum School of Applied Arts (1896–1899) and then at the Academy of Arts, where he studied painting under Frantisek Zenisek, a representative of the academic painting style. In his creative work, Kobliha abandoned colour for black-and-white tonal variations. He worked in the techniques of lithography, drypoint, and wood engraving. In addition, he worked as a book illustrator. During the 1920s, the artist published works by such authors as Julius Zeyer (1841–1901), Jiří Karasek (1871–1951), Jan Opolsky (1875–1942), Rudolf Medek (1890–1940), and others. Kobliha also worked on bibliographical editions of literary works published by Kamilla Neumannova (1874–1957), often using floral motifs and the story's central figure as a frontal painting. The artist's oeuvre is characterised by an atmosphere of introspection and the creation of imaginary compositions, although his creative heritage also includes realistic landscapes from Czech villages. The main series of works by Frantisek Kobliha: "Simple Motifs" (1908), "Tristan" (1909–1910), a series of landscapes of Prague (1914), a series of lithographs "Fantasies of Moonlight Nights" (1944–1946), etc.

Object description

The work depicts part of the interior of a late Gothic church, with vertical arches and niches at the top, protruding from dark grey walls painted with barely visible frescoes. In the centre is a lightly rusticated portal with a slightly open door, behind which part of the building is visible. Above the doorway, in the centre of the arch, is a tall lancet window with stained glass. The floor at the entrance, lit on the right, has a raised area that extends down along the side wall. On the elevation in the corner, to the right of the portal, there is a ciborium. On either side are two candlesticks in the shape of animals.

Inscriptions

At the bottom left are the letters "FK". In the lower left corner of the engraving is an inscription: "Praha. Kaple sv. Václava – lept".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery