Weir I

In 1940, Jan Zrzavý created two variations on the motif of the former Dious Pond, which had stood below a mill. The listed version represents a purer compositional approach to the subject, without the balustrade that appears in the foreground of the second, more famous painting (Dious II, oil on canvas, 1940, 27.5 × 35 cm, private collection). The horizontal arrangement of the scene featuring a dark water surface, the elegant silhouettes of three trees and the lonely mill building in the background is brought to life by the light of the moon. The work was created after Zrzavý’s forced return from France, when the artist, confronted with the reality of the Protectorate, turned to Czech subject matter as a form of internal refuge and spiritual anchoring. He recast his Bretagne experience in the purity of the contours; here, the austerity of the shapes combines with the melancholic mood that became a characteristic aspect of the artist’s wartime work. The painting’s spiritual dimension is concentrated in a circle of silhouetted trees, which elevate the simple depiction of the landscape to a surreal vision. In his introduction to the exhibition where the canvas was first presented, František Halas spoke of the mournfulness that accompanies this phase of Zrzavý’s work and the continuation of the sensitive authenticity of his prewar period. The painting was exhibited as the first of four variations on the weir at Dious Pond at the solo exhibition Jan Zrzavý in the Aleš Hall of the Umělecká beseda (8 December 1940 – 12 January 1941, cat. no. 1).

Assessed in consultation with Prof. J. Zeminou and PhDr. R. Michalová, Ph.D. The expert opinion of PhDr. K. Srp is attached: “[...] In the period when Jan Zrzavý was one of the most successful Czechoslovak artists [...] he painted consistently, especially the areas he had known best since childhood. [...] While he presented rural buildings in the harsh light of day, in the four paintings where he dealt with the now nonexistent Dious Pond, he was attracted to the gloomy, mournful atmosphere, as if captured by moonlight. [...].”