Forest Scenery (Hermitage)

Thanks to the masterful handling of space with a view of the distant country, the brilliant modelling of the sky, the differentiation of the various types of vegetation solely with the resources of painting and a harmonious colour scheme with an endless range of green tones, Kosárek’s forest idyll with the meditating hermit is one of the most important works of Czech 19th-century landscape painting. It won considerable acclaim as soon as it was exhibited - in his review of the annual art exhibition in the magazine Lumír on 6 June 1856 F.B.Mikovec expressed his belief that „Kosárek will soon be a Czech Schirmer“. Because of this favourable reception of the painting, Kosárek immediately, i.e. in the same year, painted two smaller variants of this motif - he gave one of them to his patron, cardinal prince Schwarzenberg. The painting on view was bought for a lottery of the artists’ association Krasoumná jednota - with the money raised in this way Kosárek went on a trip to Rügen in the autumn of 1856.