oil on board, 28,5 × 49 cm, frame, signed bottom right monogrammed JU
The academic painter Joža Uprka (1861-1940) belonged to the solitary
artists who soon developed their own artistic expression and his style was too
did not change his style. His beginnings, influenced by the Munich School, were replaced after 1890, a more whimsical, veristic form, which culminated at the end of the century ...into an impressionistic typeface that became established as the author's signature style. Over the next four decades, Uprka varied it mostly in oils,
but more often in watercolours and tempera. He alternated formats, also the support (more often wood and canvas). The signature is most typically in the form of a bound JU monogram, most often in red, which ligature became next to the of the work itself, the legendary symbol, the mark of the author, similarly
like the distinctive signatures of Mucha or Kupka. Painting with a brush is often
virtuoso, the stain is sometimes quite large, two to three centimetres, in smaller
paintings, rather smaller. The painting under consideration falls into the period of peak maturity around 1910, when the painter is constantly and repeatedly studying folk painting types such as Josef Mánes half a century before him. The painting itself fits in to the famous works The Girl from Svatobořice, Tasovjanka, Miločanka or Vlčnovjanka. It is distinguished by its confident brush technique, painted realistic and in detail gives the impression of a similar brilliance to that known of Liebermann at the time. The surface, treated with expressive strokes, has dense expression, the colouring is uncontrasted but not banal, the figure looks almost adorable, almost like an icon. The painting is preserved in good technical condition condition without distorting retouches and varnishes.
