ADOLF ZDRAZILA (Probua 1868 - 1942 Opava)
Small lake
color woodcut/paper, 25 x 29,5 cm
monogrammed in the plate AZ

ESTIMATE °€ 60 - 100
STARTING PRICE °€ 60

Adolf Zdrazila was a Silesian painter and graphic artist and an important figure in the field of Silesian cultural life in the first half of the 20th century. He was the founder of the Berg artists' colony near Boeheimkirchen and, in 1919, the founder and long-time chairman of the Association of Fine Artists of Silesia in Troppau. After completing community school, Zdrazila completed an apprenticeship as a decorative painter. In 1893 he went to Vienna to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Eduard Peithner von Lichtenfels and William Unger. From 1894 he attended the special class for landscape painting at Lichtenfels. From Vienna he went on study trips to the surrounding area and to the Austrian Alps, where he painted in nature. Because of his academic achievements, Zdrazila was awarded the Gundel Prize in 1896 and the Rosenbaum Prize in 1897/98; He also received the Silesian state scholarship and the so-called Koch scholarship. While still studying in 1895, he married Rosalia Tatzel. When he received a state travel grant for one year in 1898, he left Vienna to continue his studies in Munich and then in Karlsruhe at the Grand Ducal Baden Art Academy, where he became a student of Gustav Schoenleber, Leopold von Kalckreuth and Friedrich Kallmorgen. Zdrazila went on study trips to Paris, Brussels and the Netherlands and visited the Worpswede artists' colony.In 1899 he returned to Troppau. He became a member of the Vienna Art Association and the Vienna Secession and made contact with the architect Leopold Bauer. In 1902 he went to Berg near Boeheimkirchen, where, together with his friends Josef Jungwirth and Franz Schuster, he founded an artists' colony based on the Worpswede model. He also stayed in Kirchweg in Lower Austria several times with his family. In addition to stays in Vienna, Adolf Zdrazila also spent some time in Munich and became a member of the Munich Secession there. In 1904 he finally settled in Troppau. Here he cultivated an intensive collaboration with Edmund Wilhelm Braun, the director of the Troppau Decorative Arts Museum. In addition, a graphic cycle “Sleeping Beauty” and numerous graphic works for the museum were created during this time, e.g. B. Colored woodcuts for arts and crafts exhibitors, a diploma for Archbishop Georg von Kopp, a graphic sheet for the anniversary of the Troppau choir (1902) and an art advertising poster for the city of Troppau. As a music lover, Zdrazila became a member of the “Silesian Symphony” association, built a small home organ and made numerous connections with contemporary Silesian artists, e.g. B. to the musician Ludwig Grande and the writer Viktor Heeger. In 1918 he was a member of the war press department's artist group and worked as a war painter. The war took him to Italy, Serbia and Russia. In 1919 Zdrazila became the founder and long-time chairman of the Association of Fine Artists of Silesia in Troppau - Association of Painters of Silesia, which was based in Troppau and included painters such as Richard Assmann, Helmut Krommer, Raimund Mosler, Fritz Kruspersky, Leo Haas, Ida Fauster, Helli Neudeck and others. After returning to Opava in 1904, Zdrazila was involved in the decoration of numerous buildings in the city. He is known as a painter of Silesian landscapes, but also created portraits, genre scenes, still lifes and sacred art.

PLEASE NOTE:
The purchase price consists of the highest bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and, if applicable, the fee of artists resale rights. In the case of normal taxation (marked °), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax of 13%, for photographs 20%, is added to the sum of the highest bid and the buyer's premium. The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.