Rowan Trees

Rowan trees heavy with red berries, together with richly yellow ripening grain and a dusty path, draw us into the atmosphere of high summer somewhere around Kameničky in the Vysočina region, where Slavíček painted during the summers of 1904–6. Inspired by the then character of the surrounding countryside – defined by a gently undulating horizon, an open landscape with fields and meadows, and dusty avenues – he created a whole series of thematically related paintings. Among them is the canvas known as Rowan Trees (also referred to in the literature as Rowan Trees II), dominated by a tree which, for its striking pictorial qualities, he repeatedly sought out and incorporated into his compositions during that period. The small figures of village women, here placed at the furthest bend of the road, likewise became one of Slavíček’s most significant features. We are confronted here with a painting rendered in a dense, dynamic manner, yet suffused with light and the authentic atmosphere of a summer’s day. At the same time, everything is presented with extreme simplification, which nonetheless does not prevent the beholder’s eye from forming a sense of a specific place with its rich sensual qualities. Slavíček achieved a perfect fusion of atmosphere and expression, in which the chosen palette remains closely tied to sensory perception rooted in observed reality.

This painting has an important exhibition history (Antonín Slavíček, Jubilejní výstava díla [Jubilee Exhibition of Works], SVU Mánes, Prague, February–March 1932, cat. No. 69; Antonín Slavíček, Životní dílo [Life’s Work], Prague Castle Riding School, Prague, September–November 1961, cat. No. 132). It has also been repeatedly published in specialist literature (E. Medková: Vzpomínám na Antonína Slavíčka [I Remember Antonín Slavíček], Prague 1941, fig. p. 22; J. Tomeš: Antonín Slavíček, Prague 1966, cat. No. 223; J. Kotalík: Antonín Slavíček, 1870–1910, Catalogue Raisonné, Prague 1965, cat. No. 139, fig. p. 113). It comes from the estate of the film director Karel Steklý, a former collaborator of the Liberated Theatre in Prague. The work has been assessed in consultation with Prof. R. Prahl, CSc., and Prof. J. Zemina. The expert opinion of PhDr. K. Srp is attached.