Festival of Spring (Allegoric Scene)

Karel Vítězslav Mašek, a painter and later also architect and city planner, was the first Czech artist whose work won recognition in the wide international context of symbolism. As early as the 1970s, his name appeared at international exhibitions and his art reproductions were published in catalogues. His large painting Libuše aroused special international interest. He left for Paris with Alfons Mucha to study at the Académie Julian. After his year in Paris, Mašek was absorbing various influences; he was inspired by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes as well as Georges Seurat. Festival of Spring falls into the period when Mašek was still influenced by the salon academism at that time represented by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.