1901 | technique: oil on canvas | 135 × 65 cm | signature: bottom right | framed | note: exhibited and published in the catalog "Landscape of My Heart", Litomyšl Castle Brewery 14. 6. - 7. 7. 2018
Additional Information
The offered work Háj (Grove) is a confident example of the oeuvre of Augustin Satra, one of the most talented landscape painters of the generation associated with the Mařák School, whose promising artistic career was prematurely ended by his tragic death in the United States.
The painting was created in 1901, at a time when Satra, after graduating from the studio of Julius Mařák and briefly studying under Rudolf von Ottenfeld, had fully developed his sensitivity for capturing the mood and luminous atmosphere of the Czech landscape.
The composition, executed in a vertical format, masterfully employs the rhythm of slender birch and poplar trunks, which form a natural frame for the view into the landscape. Here Satra demonstrates an exceptional sensitivity to working with various shades of green and their transformation under the influence of diffused daylight. The lower part of the painting, with its rich vegetation and path in the foreground, is rendered with a relaxed painterly handling, while the view towards the buildings in the background and the distant horizon gives the work spatial depth and an intimate rural character.
The work bears all the hallmarks of Satra’s finest period, turning away from academic realism towards lyrical Impressionism.
The artist does not strive here for mere topographical description, but rather for the capture of the “spirit of place” (genius loci).
The treatment of light filtering through the tree crowns and the chromatic harmony of the whole testify to Satra’s affiliation with Czech artistic modernism at the beginning of the century.
Given the artist’s short life and the relatively limited number of surviving works, this signed and dated painting from 1901 represents a highly valuable collecting opportunity. Works by Augustin Satra appear on the market more rarely than those of his classmates from Mařák’s special landscape studio, which further enhances the appeal of this lot.
For this lot, we kindly ask the new owner (successful bidder) to consider the gracious loan of the artwork for the representative exhibition “Sny o krajině” (“Dreams of the Landscape”), which will take place at the Aleš South Bohemian Gallery (AJG) from 14 June to 22 November 2026.
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This is an automatically generated English translation from the original Czech text using deepl.com and is intended for reference only - it does not constitute a legally binding statement of the lot's properties. Please note that we can only guarantee the accuracy of the description and condition as stated in the original Czech version.
