On the Charles Bridge

In the early twentieth century, no one captured the atmosphere of hushed, evening Prague better than Jakub Schikaneder. The listed painting features a motif characteristic of the artist, who by 1900 was astonishing the art-loving public in Prague and beyond with his diffused light and flowing, pastel colouration. In connection with his Old Prague motifs, we often encounter comparisons to music: “a broad, colourful chord, detailed in a soft, gentle and musically expressive tonality” or “a harmony of colourful tones” – which clearly characterises that distinctive Schikaneder mystery imbued with yearning and melancholy. The Prague scenes are not precise, documentary records but rather the deepest internal reflections of the artist’s sensitive perception of the world, inflected by his memory and imagination. Still, their unique atmospheres immediately evoke the well-known places we admire so much. Here, next to the statue of Filip Benicio and a view of the rooftops of Prague’s Kampa, one can recognise a specific place: the beginning of Charles Bridge starting from the Lesser Town Bridge Tower. On the Charles Bridge is a smaller and more freely rendered work, perhaps a preparatory oil for the painting Memory of Twilight on the Charles Bridge. It represents the snow-covered Prague scenery in the pink haze of evening light. Here the painter applied his characteristic pastel colouring – light, almost to the point of transparency – imbuing the scene with a dreamy softness of colours and shapes. The poignant atmosphere is intensified by the figure of a woman, turned with her back to the viewer, which strongly evokes the painterly patterns of German Romanticism. The hunched figure, walking alone through an icy Prague, underlines Schikaneder’s singular, almost meditative perception of human existence. The work was originally part of the First Republic collection of Prague mayor Josef Rotnágl. Assessed in consultation with Prof. R. Prahl, CSc. and PhDr. Š. Leubnerová. The professional opinion of Prof. T. Vlček, CSc. is attached: “[...] It is an exceptional work by Schikaneder, showcasing with extraordinary elegance a technique of delicate, blended patches of colour, through which the background subtly shines. The oil paintings from this strand of Schikaneder’s late work stand out for their combination of tone with a delicately coloured rendering of the subject, evoking a sense of reminiscence or dreaming. [...].”