Portrait of Vincenc Makovský

In 1926-1930, Hana Wichterlová and Vincenc Makovský lived in Paris, where they had moved after completing their sculpture studies in the studio of Jan Štursa at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. In the portrait of her friend, Wichterlová transformed the head into an elementary form and replaced the face with a deep incision bereft of anthropomorphic features. Inspired by the work of Constantin Brancusi, she radically turned away from traditional portrait sculpture. Eliminating the individual features of her sitters, she endeavoured to capture the emotional essence of their unique features and personality in simplified forms.