Black Lake

Jan Preisler

Jan Preisler - Black Lake
The setting of a figure in a landscape is a typical feature of Jan Preisler’s paintings. In the figures’ development, one may observe Preisler’s changing understanding of this symbol, the transformation from etheric levitating figures over symbolistic poses to their realistic rendering. This was principally evidenced in the paintings from his loose series Black Lakes. With respect to the content, they are very compact paintings where the individual motifs build the story together. The story provides various variants of reading, from interpretation associated with the Narcissus myth over contemplation associated with psychoanalytical reading to synthesising philosophical theses. Not only the strong content but also the masterful painting ranks these works to the acme of Presiler as well as European symbolism.
date:
measurements: height 111 cm
width 153 cm
in collections:
material: canvas
technique: oil
inscription:
inventory number: O 2618
gallery collection: Collection of 19th Century Art and Classical Modernism