17 Vincenc Makovský 1900 – 1966 Portrait of Jan Skácel

Height 26 cm, patinated plaster, metal, wood. Authenticity confirmed by PhDr. Rea Michalová, Ph.D., PhDr. Michael Zachař. Provenance: The work comes from the collection of PhDr. Jiří Hlušička.

Authenticity confirmed by PhDr. Rea Michalová, Ph.D., PhDr. Michael Zachař.

Undoubtedly, both natives of Nové Město, Jan Štursa and Vincenc Makovský, belong to the most important sculptors of our modern era. The former concluded the old era, running from the Baroque through Myslbek to Rodin and Bourdelle, while the latter, conversely, opened the gates to the newest sculpture, extending practically to the present day.

Makovský's innovative endeavors in the 1930s are truly of world caliber. He was one of the first to include cement, concrete, and raw iron among the supreme materials. He also developed a complex conception of the artwork during the difficult post-war years, which, fortunately, included family, friendly, and sometimes hidden artistic circles alongside the official sphere.

The 1960s wonderfully connected artists with poets, filmmakers with architects, and theatre practitioners with composers, and all this blossomed into astonishing works of art. Traces of these friendships are often found in very specific creations, as is the case with this pure portrait of the poet Jan Skácel.

The sculptor, who was more than a generation older, outlined a dense and sonorous face with the poet's distinct anatomy, including the characteristic eyebrows beneath which flickers the richly varied expression of a fundamental poet who imprinted the character of his entire generation of ""twenty-one year olds"" (a likely reference to artists emerging around the 1960s).

Archival evidence, such as personal New Year's cards (PFs), only confirms the authenticity of this exceptionally rare artifact from the collection of the well-known art historian Dr. Jiří Hlušička, the long-time director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno.