AUCTION GALLERY FORUM 9/11

Arts and Antiquities

1927, oil on canvas, 98.5 x 84 cm, signed lower right T.F. Simon and inscribed on reverse T.F. Simon, Prodavacka betelu v Colombu (Betel Sellers in Colombo), framed Condition: cracks Literature: Arthur Novak, Kronika grafickeho dila T.F. Simona, (Chronicle of graphic works), Hollar, Prague 1937; Eva Buzgova, Malir a grafik T.F. Simon 1877 - 1942, Prague, 1994 (exhibition catalogue), Starting Price: CZK 90,000; USD 2,636; EUR 2,995, Estimated price: (100,000 - 120,000) CZK., From his trip round the world in 1926, T. F. Simon brought back many unforgettable experiences, which he described in his letters to his family and friends. At the same time he used them in many drawings, sketches on which he was working at developing further, particularly on his masterly managed original graphics (aquatint, colour etching, dry point etc.) and other techniques (aquarelle, oil). The suggestive oil Betel Sellers in Colombo dominates among them. The painting depicts tanned pretty young women from the capital of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), famous for spices and tea, standing in front of a small street shop next to a popular kind of vegetable in a basket. They are shortening their waiting time for a potential customer by chatting in a serene way or rather in a state of resignation, evoking the atmosphere of a tropical countryside being tired of heat. A spirit of leisurely and naturally passing time seems to be an unreachable ideal in the present hectic hustle. It is no wonder the artist kept this undoubted chef d`oeuvre in his atelier all his life. In the photograph of members of the group Hollar made on the occasion of the visit to the artist`s atelier, there is partly seen on the easel the abovementioned oil. (On the opposite side of T. F. Simon stands Max Svabinsky, behind him the painter Hugo Boettinger, next to the graphic artist F. Kobliha).