Krajina

Landscape

A delicate landscape by Bohuslav Reynek depicting an open countryside with several slender trees in the foreground and gently rolling hills on the distant horizon. The composition is remarkably simple, yet it possesses the distinctive inner intensity and silence so closely associated with Reynek's vision of the landscape. A dark conifer and a group of slender deciduous trees dominate the foreground. Their vertical forms divide the broad horizontal space and guide the viewer towards the bluish hills in the distance. Between them stretches an expansive area of fields and meadows rendered through numerous short touches of colour. The palette is restrained and highly sensitive. Earthy ochres, browns and greys are enlivened by pale greens and, most notably, stronger blue accents. The sky is constructed from light blue-grey strokes through which the pale paper remains visible, giving the entire composition an airy, almost translucent quality. Reynek does not approach the landscape descriptively. Trees, fields and distant hills are reduced to a network of rapid strokes, patches of colour and lines. Nevertheless, the sense of space remains convincing and the viewer feels the presence of a particular place captured during a single quiet moment. This ability to transform an ordinary landscape into a deeply personal and meditative image is one of the defining qualities of Reynek's art. Bohuslav Reynek (1892–1971) was one of the most distinctive Czech artists of the 20th century. A printmaker, draughtsman, poet and translator, his life and art were inseparably connected with his native Petrkov in the Vysočina region. His visual work repeatedly returned to the immediate surroundings of his home – its garden, fields, trees, animals and the modest rural landscape. Reynek's artistic world is characterised by intimacy and an exceptional sensitivity towards ordinary things. Alongside his celebrated printmaking techniques, particularly drypoint and etching, he also worked in drawing and pastel. In these coloured works, his ability to evoke the atmosphere of the landscape through remarkably economical means becomes particularly apparent. The present work possesses precisely this quality. Nothing in the landscape is dramatic or monumental; its strength lies instead in silence, light and the rhythm of a few trees against the distant horizon. The restrained palette and occasionally sketch-like handling lend the work a highly intimate character. The work is clearly signed “Reynek” lower right. Executed in pastel on paper, it measures 27 × 41 cm excluding the frame and mount. It is mounted, glazed and presented in a decorative frame. CURATOR'S TIP: For me, this is Reynek at his quietest. Almost nothing “happens” here – a few trees, fields, distant hills and sky. And that is precisely why it works. The longer one looks, the more the delicate blues, greens and browns emerge, together with the remarkable tranquillity of the landscape. It is a work that does not need to shout in order to draw the viewer in. FOR INVESTORS: Bohuslav Reynek is one of the most highly respected and collected figures of 20th-century Czech art. Particularly attractive features of the present work include its original colour technique, a landscape subject characteristic of Reynek's intimate artistic world, clearly legible signature and appealing 27 × 41 cm format. With a starting price of CZK 15,000, it represents a particularly accessible opportunity to enter the auction for an original signed work by an artist with a firmly established position on the Czech collecting market.