88th Auction, lot 47 This painting is an extraordinary example of work by Antonín Procházka, one of the key personalities of Czech interwar modernism. Procházka was a peer and a close friend of Emil Filla. When they finished their studies, they set out together on a journey to learn about European art and both joined the artistic group Osma after their return. Influenced by the environment, Procházka’s artistic style was gradually absorbing features of expressionism and fauvism, and in 1909 in Paris he first encountered cubism, which became essential to him until the mid-20s, although he worked with it freely and with his own individuality. Although around 1915 the expression of his works was close to orphism using the colour range inspired by Franz Marc, several works reflecting the knowledge of French synthetic cubism and its compositional principles, which foreshadowed Procházka’s later work, had already appeared at this time. The period of the First World War plunged the artist into isolation, which, however, provided him with enough peace and space for his own artistic development, resulting in a distinctive artistic language, bright colours, and variability of compositions. He executed several works, including the presented Bouquet in a Jug, which used traditional objects and freely elaborated their fragile geometry as well as layering and blending. The author thus achieved a very fresh painting style, characterised by thick colour layers demonstrating creative naturalness and inner greatness. Works from Procházka’s early cubist period appear on the market very rarely.  On the reverse of the frame is a fragment of a stamp from Topičův salon. The artwork was received for the auction from an important Prague collection and is published in the artist’s inventory of paintings and sculptures in the book Antonín Procházka 1882–1945 (M. Macharáčková, Brno 2003, repro. No. 136, p. 313). Assessed during consultations by prof. J. Zemina and PhDr. K. Srp. From the attached expertise by PhDr. R. Michalová, Ph.D.: “[…] Bouquet in a Jug is an extremely captivating and extraordinarily positive painting. It originated from the author’s creative imagination, the depth and fragility of his inner life, lyricism, and technical perfection. […]”