Vlastimil Hofman, ON THE ROAD, 1932

38 x 38 cm - oil on canvas

signed lower left: Wlastimil Hofman | 1932

On the reverse, on the upper stretcher bar, inscriptions (in pencil): P 19 [in a circle] W drogę I; below (in red crayon): 4);
in addition, on each stretcher bar, a stamp with a number referring to the size of the canvas: 38.

Wlastimil Hofman / Vlastimil Hofmann (Prague 1881 – Szklarska Poręba 1970) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków—initially under Florian Cynk, and later also under Jan Stanisławski, Leon Wyczółkowski, and Jacek Malczewski. From 1899 to 1902, he also studied under Jean Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. During World War I, he stayed in Prague and Paris; from 1920 onward, he lived permanently in Kraków. He exhibited frequently; he belonged to numerous artistic associations—he was a co-founder of the “Group of Five” (1905) and the “Group Zero” (1908), a member of the Czech Artists’ Union “Manes,” and, from 1911, a member of the Polish Artists’ Society “Sztuka.” During World War II, he made his way to Jerusalem via the Soviet Union and Turkey, from where he returned to Kraków in 1946. From 1947 onward, he lived permanently in Szklarska Poręba. Hofman primarily painted fantastical and symbolic compositions featuring folk motifs, as well as genre scenes, portraits, and landscapes. Despite close analogies and connections to Malczewski’s art, his paintings are always distinguished by their individual character, style, and mood.