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Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall (From the Series "On the Poems and Writings by E. A. Poe")

Frantisek Kobliha

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-2040
Author: Frantisek Kobliha
Name: Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall (From the Series "On the Poems and Writings by E. A. Poe")
Date of creation: 1950–1952
Country: Czech Republic
Technique: lithography
Material: toned paper
Dimensions: 39 x 25 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: symbolic art landscape
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

Illustration for the story "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall' by Edgar Allan Poe. A cosmic landscape with a part of a celestial body (possibly the Moon) with craters on a dark background. The work is crossed diagonally by an image of the Milky Way, with a comet with a tail flying to the right. To the right and left are images of planets, stars, and chaotic constellations.

Inscriptions

In the lower left corner are the letters "FK" (author's mark), in the lower left below the engraving is the inscription "С 26 / 26", on the right – "F. Kobliha". In the lower right corner in Czech – "E. A. Poe. The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall – lithograph".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall (From the Series "On the Poems and Writings by E. A. Poe")

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