Water Goblin

This magical work is a variation of the Czech water goblins that appear in Lada’s work in dozens of versions from the 1930s, even if this motif is more prevalent in the author’s prime work of the 1940s. In 1938 Lada was influenced by legends from Bubáci a hastrmani (Bogeymen and Water Goblins), a sixteenth-century book that captivated children and adults alike. The artist skillfully adapted his illustrations to depict the adventures of Brčál the water goblin, Pulec the little water goblin, and Mulisák the bogeyman living in solitude. The popular character was associated with danger, nighttime, and dark waters and Lada himself most often depicted the water goblin in such situations, as a little man in a green tailcoat sitting alone on his willow tree, calmly smoking his pipe under the cover of semidarkness. This tableau confronts the viewer in the listed scene that captures an idyllic hilly landscape with a small church and two village houses nestled at the foot of the hill. The stillness of the painted scene is disrupted by a single dynamic element – a wisp of smoke rising to the sky, where dawn is slowly breaking. This state, like the bare trees devoid of leaves and the landscape without a cover of snow, symbolises the strange timelessness that plays out only in fairy tales and offers the artist and audiences an escape into the idealised world of the countryside and fairytale characters. The value of the work is increased by its exhibition at the posthumous comprehensive exhibition held to mark Josef Lada’s seventieth birthday (National Artist Josef Lada: A Comprehensive Exhibition for His Seventieth Birthday, Slavonic Island, Prague, 27 December 1957 – February 1958, cat. no. 118) and publication in the exhibition catalogue on pg. 37. On the verso there is a written dedication from Lada’s friend Mr. Ladislav Hromádka, who gave the work to his son: “To Ládiček for Christmas, 24. XII 1948 L Hromada.” Assessed in consultation with Prof. J. Zemina and PhDr. R. Michalová, PhD. The expert opinion of PhDr. P. Pečinková, PhD is attached.