František FOLTÝN (Tchéquie, 1891-1976) - Lot 83

František FOLTÝN (Tchéquie, 1891-1976) Village of Mukachevo in the Ukraine, 1922. Framed oil on canvas. Signed lower left. 50.5 x 66 cm. Provenance : - Private collection, Paris. - Sale Galerie Art Praha, Prague, Czech Republic, 12/11/2022, lot no. 134 (authenticity confirmed by M. Zachař and J. Hlušička, experts for Art Praha). - Darte Auction House, Nizny Hrusov, Slovakia, 20/06/2021, lot no. 123 under the title Dedina do Mukacheva. - Sale Gallery Art Praha, Prague, Czech Republic, 15/11/2020, lot n° 124. A copy of Mr. Jiří Hlušička's certificate will be given to the successful bidder. František Foltýn is one of the greatest exponents of Czech modern art of the interwar period. Before being drawn to the Cubist avant-garde and then moving into an abstract, conceptual period, the artist produced works in the Expressionist style, notably brightly colored landscapes. He initially trained as a porcelain painter before entering the Applied Arts in Prague. World War I led to his mobilization to the front, temporarily interrupting his artistic career. As soon as the war ended, he actively returned to painting, mobilizing a group of visual artists around him in Brno. His landscapes of southern Slovakia, with their interplay of shapes, colors and directional strokes, show that Cézanne had an undeniable influence on him. It was in Paris, in 1923, that the painter had his first revelation of the abstract scene. He developed his own style of abstraction, all curves and lines, described as "biomorphic", revealing forms open to interpretation. In this, he distinguished himself from the influence of his compatriot František Kupka, whose studio in Puteaux he attended. Foltýn was soon recognized by his peers as a member of the Cercle et Carré group (founded in 1929 by Joaquín Torres García and Michel Seuphor) and the Abstraction-Création group (an association formed in Paris in 1931 by Georges Vantongerloo and Auguste Herbin). In 1934, unlike Kupka who chose France for good, Foltýn returned to Czechoslovakia, depriving himself of the opportunity for international exposure that Paris offered avant-garde artists. In the second half of his career, Foltýn abandoned abstraction and returned to his roots in realistic landscape painting. Our painting was featured on the walls of the prestigious Galerie Art Praha, one of the most important galleries in Prague's old town, which promotes and auctions the work of the greatest Czech and Slovak artists, including František Foltýn.