작품 상세

oil and assamblage on canvas, 70 x 80 cm, signed and dated lower right: J. JIRA 89 23 XI., verso further signed, dated and inscribed: J. JIRA 89 OVECKY. Provenance: collection of journalist Jiri Tvrznik, obtained from the author. Publicated: Josef Jira, Jiri Tvrznik: interview entitled "Moje natura je nekdy k neusneseni", Mlada fronta – Culture, November 28, 1990. Consulted with Dr Irena Zantovska Murray HonFRIBA, Professor Jaromir Zemina, Dr Jiri Machalicky and Vladimir Lekes. Authenticity certificate enclosed. The obvious Christian motif of the present work is linked to the culture of the mountainside village of Mala Skala and the artist‘s life in the countryside. Looking upward with hope toward the cross in the left part of the work are the innocent faces of the sheep, supposed to follow their shepherd in nature just as Christians are supposed to follow God and the teachings of Jesus. The tenderness of the flock is contradicted by the dead body of the sacrificed lamb, lying under the cross and bringing the work a note of sudden anxiety and distress as its blood drips onto a white lace cloth. The painting is a demonstration of the author‘s ability to connect personal, symbolic and period-related meanings into a single, visually suggestive statement.