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House of Art
TUES–SUN 10:00–18:00

Barns near the village

1923

oil, cardboard, 63×47 cm

purchased in 2019 with support from the Czech Republic Ministry of Culture

Closely associated with his native region of Silesia, Držkovic acquired a knowledge of contemporary painting from several sources: he studied in Vienna (1912–1920) and in the German city of Karlsruhe (1920–1921). His time in Karlsruhe studying at Hans Bühler’s studio inspired his symbolist compositions, mystical themes and meditative approach. Both periods of study influenced his Romantic and symbolist religious paintings with landscape elements drawing on traditionalist academic models. Valentin Držkovic was a spontaneous, free-spirited painter who inclined towards sensual depictions of pure landscapes, conveying the genius loci and the distinctive mood of a particular place – as can be seen in his canvases treating ostensibly dull themes, such as Barns near the Village. The quality of his works is accentuated by his strong colour modelling using thickly applied paint and combining a realistic vision of the world with a striking artistic brevity.


DRŽKOVIC VALENTIN

(1888, Velká Polom – 1969, Opava) Painter and graphic artist. A member of the Association of Moravian Artists, the Association of Silesian Artists and the Bezruč group. From 1912 to 1920 he studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Rudolf Jettmar and the graphic artist Ferdinand Schmutzer. In 1920–1921 he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, after which he continued his studies in Berlin and Paris. After his studies he settled in Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia (Czechoslovakia’s easternmost province), before returning to his native Opava region after the Second World War. During the post-war phase of his career he painted war-damaged cities, as well as exploring psychiatric motifs while his wife was suffering from illness. Držkovic’s work is closely associated with depictions of his native region Silesia (Pustkovec, Hradec u Opavy), though he was an equally prolific creator of portraits and studies of animals. His cycle Slag-Heaps explores social themes in the Ostrava region; it attracted attention not only in Czechoslovakia, but also on the Paris art scene.
Girl in a fur

Girl in a fur

undated
Old Eroticism

Old Eroticism

1996
Concrete (Below a Slag-Heap)

Concrete (Below a Slag-Heap)

1983
Wallachian Madonna

Wallachian Madonna

1921
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