Sunday Search for Beauty!

Michal Rapant’s painting is characterized by a wild, expressive form and an impasto application of intense colors. Initially his work showed the influence of Vladimír Skrepl, in whose studio Rapant completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague; however, he gradually shifted toward a different stylistic approach referencing early twentieth-century modernist movements, particularly French fauvism and German expressionism. Rapant has a consistent thematic repertoire, and he develops individual motifs in extensive, free-form series. Portraits and floral still lifes appear repeatedly, as do atypical subjects such as teddy bears and freer figural compositions often permeated by echoes of historical artistic traditions - particularly references to the paintings of Albrecht Dürer. A key inspiration was the artist’s encounter with the works of the old Dutch masters, which sparked one of his most extensive series, consisting of floral still lifes. It was this series that gave rise to his often accentuated motif of vanitas, or transience. Rapant’s work reflects on the evolution of this genre, from the seventeenth century to modern interpretations, as exemplified by Vincent van Gogh’s sunflowers or Henri Matisse’s floral paintings. The painting Nedělní hledání krásy! (Sunday Search for Beauty!), created during the artist’s residency in Brussels, depicts a wilting bouquet as an emblematic motif of vanitas. The flowers’ beauty contrasts with their death, reflecting the artist’s statement on loss, melancholy, and the fragility of existence.

70 % of the hammer price is allocated to support the non-profit foundation  Spolu s odvahou, a member of the Bátor Tábor family.