At the Pool

Havránek’s attractive composition of a forest scene with a romantically dilapidated cottage directly adjacent to a small pool represents a unique opportunity on the auction market. This work forms the essence of the author’s top artistic expression. Havránek was a student of Antonín Mánes, Christian Ruben and Maximilian Haushofer, who forever shaped his artistic expression. He was valued by contemporary critics, especially for his refined sense of detail and meticulous rendering of specific surfaces or shapes, as well as his ability to capture faithfully colour shades. This approach, especially in his top and late works, creates an eye-catching experience for the beholder, for his works seem to be executed under a magnifying glass, and the artist “did not miss a single stalk of grass, a single leaf or thread.” Given the date of the work, the subject, and the title, it might be possible to consider its identification with the painting At the Pond, which Havránek exhibited in the same year in the Prague salon of Mikuláš Lehman. At the end of 1875, Světozor, a Czech picture magazine, reported on the exhibited painting and characterised it not only highly poetically but also very aptly: “…In the dark forest, between tall trees, there is a pond lined with reeds, algae and water plants, behind which a half-demolished cottage dozes off in the forest thicket.” This beautiful romantic scene certainly deserves increased attention from collectors in the context of Bedřich Havránek’s work and the entire Haushofer school. The authenticity and unquestionable value of the work are further confirmed by its long-term loan to the collections of the National Gallery Prague (2000–2019), its exhibition in the permanent collection at the Trade Fair Palace in Prague and publication in its guidebook. It was also reproduced in the artist’s monograph (N. Blažíčková-Horová: Bedřich Havránek, Prague 1994, p. 71, No. 37, under the title Cottage in the Forest by the Stream). The work comes from a high-quality post-revolution collection and is presented in an elegant period frame. Assessed during consultations by prof. R. Prahl, CSc., and PhDr. Š Leubnerová.