Items Similar to "Woman Reading in an Interior" Vaclav Vytlacil, Loose Brushwork Portrait
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12
Vaclav Vytlacil"Woman Reading in an Interior" Vaclav Vytlacil, Loose Brushwork PortraitCirca 1915
Circa 1915
About the Item
Vaclav Vytlacil
Woman Reading in an Interior, circa 1915
Signed lower right
Oil on canvas
16 x 20 inches
As a child, Vytlacil had taken art classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1913, he received a scholarship to the Art Students League in New York, where he worked with John C. Johansen, an able portraitist whose expressive style resembled that of John Singer Sargent and Anders Zorn. On completion of his studies in 1916, he accepted a teaching position at the Minneapolis School of Art. Vytlacil saved enough money to go to Europe in 1921. He hoped to study Céanne's paintings and the work of Old Masters. He spent a month in Paris, then went to Prague (his parents were Czechoslovakian). He toured Dresden, Berlin, and Munich. The paintings he sought out-works by Rembrandt, Titian, Veronese, Cranach, and Holbein—gave him a new perspective. "I am, for the first, beginning to understand some of the laws the old masters used in their paintings and wonderful things they are too. It was no hit or miss affair with them, neither was it just feeling: but rather real solid laws and facts that not only one used, but they all used."
In Munich, Vytlacil enrolled at the Royal Academy of Art, where Worth Ryder and Ernest Thurn were fellow students. When Thurn left the Academy for Hofmann's school, Vytlacil soon followed. Vytlacil worked with Hofmann throughout the mid 1920s, first as a student, and subsequently as a teaching assistant. With Thurn, he organized Hofmann's 1924 summer school on the island of Capri.
The contact with Hofmann made Vytlacil reconsider his own artistic approach. "More and more I realize that drawing is the bottom of it all and to paint without being able to draw leads only to grief."
Vytlacil returned to the United States in 1928. During the summer of that year, at Ryder's invitation, he gave a series of lectures on modern European art at the University of California at Berkeley. The next fall he joined the faculty of the Art Students League. Although he encountered opposition from Reginald Marsh, Boardman Robinson, and Kenneth Hayes Miller at the league, Vytlacil gave a series of public lectures on modern art that had lasting importance. George L.K. Morris was only one of many young Americans lured into modernism after hearing Vytlacil speak.
Vytlacil returned to Europe after a season at the league. In Munich he attempted to interest Hofmann in teaching at the league. He then set up a studio in Paris, where he gained first-hand knowledge of Picasso, Matisse, and Dufy. Over the next six years, Vytlacil divided his time between Paris, Capri, and Positano. In 1931, he took a five-year lease on a villa in Positano and opened an informal school. He returned to New York in 1935, and the following year helped found the American Abstract Artists. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, he taught at a variety of places—the Art Students League, Queens College in New York, Black Mountain College in North Carolina, the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California, and other art schools. In 1946, he rejoined the faculty of the Art Students League and remained there until his retirement in 1978.
Even before Vytlacil went to Europe, his paintings showed a decided inclination toward modernism. In the expressionistic Village Scene of 1918, and other work from the the same decade, Vytlacil compressed space and balanced his compositions through an adroit use of color. His still lifes and interiors from the 1920s reflect an understanding of Céanne gleaned partly from his discussions with Hofmann:
"No one in my former period of training had ever spoken of the properties of the two-dimensional plane, that planes built volumes, not lines, that volumes were three-dimensional and that the negative space in which they exist also has a three-dimensional volume."
During the 1930s, Vytlacil pursued two distinct and very different kinds of art simultaneously. He also began doing constructions. These were usually of discarded wood from a department store opposite his studio. He occasionally added cardboard, string, metal, and cork to these works. Though he experimented with constructions for several years, Vytlacil eventually gave them up as too limiting. He continued to prefer the spatial challenges of painting. Over the years Vytlacil occasionally ventured into complete nonobjectivity; still most of his work is abstracted from recognizable subjects.
During the 1940s and 1950s there was a new found freedom in Vytlacil's paintings. Energy replaced form as primary concern, and his subjects—landscapes, still lifes, the human figure—possessed a spontaneity unsuspected from his earlier work.
- Creator:Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984, American)
- Creation Year:Circa 1915
- Dimensions:Height: 23 in (58.42 cm)Width: 26.5 in (67.31 cm)
- More Editions & Sizes:Unique WorkPrice: $29,000
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1841215079082
Vaclav Vytlacil
Born in 1892, Vaclav Vytlacil was a highly educated and gifted artist, early at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and later at the Art Students League. In the 1920s, his travels to Europe and studies of the old masters helped him gain artistic perspective and knowledge. At the Royal Academy of Art in Munich, Vytlacil met and befriended Hans Hofmann, becoming his teaching assistant. After returning to the US in 1928, Vytlacil became a member of the Art Students League faculty and successfully persuaded Hofmann to teach at the League as well. In 1936, he became a co-founder of the American Abstract Artists group and taught at Queens College in New York; the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California; Black Mountain College in North Carolina; and the Art Students League. Vytlacil was honored with solo shows at The Carnegie Institute, Montclair Art Museum, the Phillips Memorial Gallery, the Krasner Gallery, University of Notre Dame, Rochester Art Gallery and others.
About the Seller
5.0
Gold Seller
Premium sellers maintaining a 4.3+ rating and 24-hour response times
Established in 2022
1stDibs seller since 2022
98 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: New York, NY
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View All"The Artist's Wife at the Loom, " Harry Hoffman, Bright American Impressionism
By Harry Leslie Hoffman
Located in New York, NY
Harry Leslie Hoffman (1871 - 1964)
The Artist's Wife (Beatrice Pope) at the Loom, circa 1915
Oil on canvas
30 x 32 inches
Housed in a period Newcomb-Macklin frame
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Private Collection, Massachusetts
This painting depicts the artist's wife at the loom, producing textile versions of Hoffman's underwater paintings. The screen shown behind Bea is an underwater scene also painted by Hoffman. The study of this painting is held in the collection of the Wolfsonian Museum in Florida.
Harry Leslie Hoffman was born in Cressona, a small community in Pennsylvania's Schuylkill Valley. His mother was an amateur artist who encouraged her son to pursue a career in the arts. In 1893, Hoffman entered the School of Art at Yale University and studied with John Ferguson Weir, the son of Robert Walter Weir. After graduation in 1897, Hoffman moved to New York to continue his studies at the Art Students League. He also traveled to Paris and took classes at the Académie Julien.
In the summer of 1902, Hoffman attended the Lyme Summer School of Art, in the town of Old Lyme on the Connecticut coast. The school was headed by Frank Vincent Dumond and was located in a boarding house owned by Florence Griswold. The school eventually grew into an artists' colony and a center for American Impressionism. When Hoffman first arrived as a student, he was not permitted to stay in the house which was designated for the professional artists only. However, his outgoing personality soon won him many friends at the colony.
In 1905, Hoffman settled in Old Lyme and worked as a full member of the artist colony. He was particularly influenced by Willard Leroy Metcalf, an Impressionist also working in Old Lyme. Fellow artists later fondly recalled Hoffman's antics at the Griswold house, which included playing the flute and banjo, tap-dancing, singing humorous songs, and performing magic tricks. In 1910 Hoffman...
Category
1910s American Impressionist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Lady in a Interior" Addison Thomas Millar, 19th Century American Genre Painting
By Addison Thomas Millar
Located in New York, NY
Addison Thomas Millar
Lady in a Interior
Oil on canvas board
14 x 10 inches
Millar's father emigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1845. He grew up in Warren, Ohio. During his primary education, he took some painting lessons from John Bell, a local landscape painter.
In his late teens, he won three consecutive awards from The Youth's Companion, in their annual art contests. This prompted his parents to allow him to go to Cincinnati to take formal lessons from the genre painter, De Scott...
Category
19th Century American Impressionist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
"A Quiet Afternoon" William Worcester Churchill, circa 1900 Domestic Scene
By William Worcester Churchill
Located in New York, NY
William Worcester Churchill
A Quiet Afternoon, circa 1900
Signed lower left
Oil on canvas
20 1/8 x 28 1/8 inches
William Worcester Churchill was born in 1858 in the Boston suburb o...
Category
Early 1900s American Impressionist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"A Toast" Louis Charles Moeller, American 19th Century Realist Genre Painting
Located in New York, NY
Louis Charles Moeller
A Toast
Signed lower right
Oil on canvas
12 x 16 inches
Louis Charles Moeller was a master of American genre painting. His meticulously detailed, highly finish...
Category
19th Century Realist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"The Doubtful Bill" Charles Blauvelt, 19th Century Genre Painting Money Interior
Located in New York, NY
Charles Blauvelt
The Doubtful Bill, 1868
Signed and dated lower left
Oil on canvas
12 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches
Provenance:
Private Collection, Connecticut...
Category
1860s Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"An Actor" George Luks, Ashcan Portrait, Interior Scene of Seated Actor
By George Luks
Located in New York, NY
George Luks
An Actor
Signed lower left
Oil on canvas
18 x 24 inches
Provenance
Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, 1985
Manoogian Collection, Michigan
Artist George Luks was one of a group...
Category
Early 20th Century American Realist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
You May Also Like
"Venetian Powder Room Scene with Figures" Impressionist Oil Painting on Canvas
By Luigi Cagliani
Located in New York, NY
A whimsical oil painting depicting a Venetian Powder Room Scene with Figures getting ready for the masquerade. A truly intimate scene with a ornate mirror, flowers in a vase and whit...
Category
Early 20th Century Impressionist Interior Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Daumier French Impressionist Museum Interior Women Framed Cool Colors Blue Pink
By Jean Daumier
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original oil on canvas painting by French artist Jean Daumier (b. 1948).
This endlessly charming work depicts three young women inside a museum in the artist's signature style,
...
Category
1970s Impressionist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
In a Early Light
By Robert Brackman
Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
Signed lower right.
A beautiful painting of a woman with her back to the viewer, watering a plant in front of an old brick wall. She is wearing a red skirt. A fruit arrangement sits...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Impressionist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Afternoon with Family oil on canvas painting
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Title: Afternoon with Family
Artist: Josep Costa Vila
Date: 1985
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 28.7 x 36.2 inches (73 x 92 cm)
Framing: Unframed
Signature: Signed "Costa...
Category
1980s Impressionist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$1,392 Sale Price
20% Off
Charles Kvapil, Antwerp 1884 – 1957 Paris, 'Interieur au Bord de la Mer'
By Charles Kvapil
Located in Knokke, BE
Kvapil Charles
Antwerp 1884 – 1957 Paris
Belgian Painter
'Interieur au Bord de la Mer'
Signature: Signed bottom left, named on reverse
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Image size 6...
Category
Early 20th Century Impressionist Interior Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Mirror Summer Light
By Ben Fenske
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
An oil on canvas painting of a woman sitting in front of a mirror, tending to her hair. Window open behind her admits natural light.
Ben Fenske (b. 1978) although a native of Minnes...
Category
2010s Impressionist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
Interiors Series
Modern Antique Interior
Circa 1915 Paintings
Marsh Scene Paintings
Painting Still Life In Style Of Matisse
Titian Paintings
Picasso Art Money
Capri Painting
1940s Woman Portrait
Dresden Figure
John Ernest
Paintings Of Capri
Island Painting Black Woman
Rembrandt Student
1920s Painting Portrait Woman
Portrait Of A Woman Reading
Picasso Rembrandt
Antique Hand Planer