A Guitar and a Flute

This highly narrative still life of refined style belongs to the period of prosperity and stability of the Czechoslovak Republic, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1928. Filla’s work seemed to go hand in hand with the cultural and political events of the time, as these were his happiest years, in which, in addition to being an active artist, he was also a theoretician, a member of SVU Mánes and one of the most visible avant-garde representatives. Many of his works thus seem more like a celebration of painting than a representation and elevation of reality. He depicted the same motifs repeatedly, typically musical instruments, sheet music and inscriptions referring to music.

Rounded organic volumes and a compact composition based on the overlapping and intermingling of flat plans in the presented painting create a characteristic cubist impression of a simultaneous view from different angles. At the same time, it allowed Filla to make closer connections between individual objects, enhanced by a wide range of colours from warm shades of brown and ochre to colder blue and grey. This time, instead of adding sand in the paint, he opted for a smooth but thick layer of enamel and oil paint, which he deliberately disturbed by engraving on the vertical body of the guitar. This element created a strange undulation in the painting, evoking the musical instrument’s vibration. The diagonally laid flute and the guitar in a well-thought-out composition form a kind of natural cross and the golden ratio. Filla’s signature on the sheet music indicates his self-confidence as a painter. There is no doubt who is the conductor in this orchestra of colours and shapes.

The work was published during Filla’s lifetime on a photograph from the exhibition in Index magazine (Index I, Brno 1929, no. 4, p. 5) and photographed by Josef Sudek. It was exhibited during the First Republic at the exhibition in the Aventin Mansard and also at the Members’ Exhibition of the Group of Fine Artists in Brno (House of Art in Moravská Ostrava, December 1928 – January 1929, cat. No. 24, Guitar and Flute, oil, 4,500 Kčs). Its first owner was the prominent Czech publisher, writer, poet, and columnist Otakar Štorch-Marien. The author’s No. 64 is on the upper left of the stretcher. Authenticity has been verified by the Filla Foundation, and the painting will be listed in the upcoming inventory of Filla’s work.