Franz Sedlacek (Austrian, 1891-1945) Blumenstück

Description:

Franz Sedlacek (Austrian, 1891-1945)

Blumenstück
Signed with the artist's monogram and dated "f S/1939" l.l., signed, dated, and titled "FRANZ SEDLACEK/WIEN 1939/..." on the reverse.
Oil on plywood panel, 24 7/8 x 20 in. (63.0 x 51.0 cm),framed.
Condition: Craquelure, flaking with scattered small paint losses, scattered retouch primarily to fill areas of craquelure, scattered abrasions, small losses to corners, three small tack holes u.c.

Provenance: From the artist to his brother, Julius Sedlacek; gift from Mr. and Mrs. Julius Sedlacek to their daughter, Elizabeth, on the occasion of her wedding, 1947; collection of Elizabeth Sedlacek Kelley, the artist's niece.

Literature: Gabriele Spindler, Andreas Strohhammer, and Elisabeth Hintner, Franz Sedlacek, 1891-1945: Monografie mit Verzeichnis der Gemälde (Vienna: Christian Brandstätter Verlag, 2011),cat. no. WV 131, illus. pp. 41, 212.

N.B. Schooled as a chemist, Sedlacek painted in his leisure time away from his career as a curator at the Technical Museum in Vienna. As an artist, he became associated with the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) and magic realism movements in Europe, and his work gained renown between the two World Wars. In this fantastical still life, Sedlacek borrowed subject and painting style from Dutch and Flemish Old Master panel paintings, and transformed those into a strange and beguiling composition of precisely rendered tendrils and arabesques, fantastical flowers, and insects.
Estimate $60,000-80,000

Framed dimensions: 27 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.

Inscribed "241/31" on the reverse.

Please see the extra photographs for this lot to fully understand the condition. The areas of flaking are primarily at the base of the vase and there is a cluster of losses in the leaves at lower center. The pale pink areas inside the blossoms are embellished with white, but there are also three small 1/8-inch diameter losses in the interior of the blossom in the middle.

Retouch to the bottom of the vase where there is flaking. Small areas of retouch around the white spray of flowers in the u.r. quadrant.


Items may have wear and tear, imperfections, or the effects of aging. Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Skinner shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.

Keywords