Woman with a Vase

Vincenc Makovský was the most distinctive representative of surrealism in Czech sculpture. Radical experiments with materials date from his brief surrealist period in 1932-1934. To create the basically classical figural theme in the relief Woman with a Vase, he employed the technique of assemblage from ill-assorted non-artistic materials of varied structure and colour (crushed cork, wax, tar, strings, textile, corrugated cardboard, matches). The loose treatment of low-quality, formless materials makes it difficult to apprehend the ambiguous bodily forms, which led to critical reviews.