Portrait of Jindřich Chalupecký

In this painting, Kamil Lhoták depicted the legendary Czech critic and art theorist Jindřich Chalupecký. The author of the text Svět, ve kterém žijeme (World We Live In), which was a manifesto of Skupina 42 (Group 42), is presented with slight irony as a tripper surrounded by boxes of cigars despite he was a non-smoker. A city man, uprooted from his natural environment, is placed in a desert without any connection to the displayed objects which helps create an impression of paused time. Distinctive labels of boxes attract attention; despite their banality, they might give a beautiful and very modern impression. Although Lhoták completed the work shortly after the Second World War, it reveals no response to it.