Lot 343
  • 343

Vlacho Bukovac Croatian, 1855-1923

Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 GBP
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Description

  • Vlacho Bukovac
  • Daydreams
  • signed and dated Vlacho Bukovac 905 l.r.

  • oil on paper laid down on board

  • 57.5 by 43cm., 22¾ by 17in.

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by the great-grandfather of the present owner; thence by descent

Condition

The board is sound. There is a small spot of retouching to a scuff in the board to the woman's shawl just below the bottom of her necklace. There is a small scratch to the board just above the lower ball of her necklace (visible in the catalogue illustration) and some very fine lines of craquelure, otherwise the paint surface is in good overall condition with strong colours and fine texture. Held in a plaster moulded gilt wood frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Executed with luminescent short vertical brushstrokes, Daydreams exemplifies the pointillist technique Bukovac embraced after 1900.

Bukovac is regarded as one of Croatia's leading nineteenth-century artists. Academically trained under Alexandre Cabanel at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, he remained in Paris for most of the 1880s, where he became a regular exhibitor at the annual Salon. Two trips to England in 1886 and 1888, where he worked en plein air, further contributed to the gradual lightening of his palette.

On his return to Zagreb in 1893, Bukovac became the leader of a group of young artists who became known as the 'School of Colour', in reference to the bright, impressionistic palette he brought with him from France. Forward thinking both in his art and as an individual, he was the co-founder of the Society of Croatian artists and the instigator behind the building of the Art Pavillion in Zagreb in 1898. He exhibited at the first Vienna Secession, as well as at the Venice Biennale, before becoming a teacher at the Prague Academy.

Daydreams, its academic subject expressed in a quintessentially modern manner, epitomises the fusion of the traditional and the new that lies at the heart of Bukovac's artistic vision.