Wind and Breeze – triptych

In 1896, Jan Preisler produced a triptych called Wind and Breeze, whose concept and innovative treatment of the allegorical subject matter attracted attention. The triptych was published as a programmatic artwork in the first issue of the “Volné směry” art journal. The female allegorical figure in particular was associated with the reception of French Intimism of the 1890s as the first, consistent manifestation of Modernist art in the Czech lands. While the allegorical concept is still evocative of Neo−Romanticism, the theme from Classical mythology is shifted towards a poetic metaphor distinctive of Symbolism. Preisler sought inspiration in Rodin’s sculpture Fugit Amor. The concept derives from the symbolic dualism, both in the female personification of Breeze in the lateral images and the male figures in flight, which are discerned as the god of the north wind Boreas and the god of the south wind Zephyr, who is imbued with a fertilizing potency and erotic desire. The technique of delicately rubbed charcoal was also a favoured art medium for transposing a sense of intimacy both apparent and sensed.