The painting by Štyrský was auctioned in London for 4.65 million crowns

Jindřich Štyrský: Church on the Hill (St. Sebastian); photo:artplus.cz

London - A painting by Czech artist Jindřich Štyrský from 1921 was auctioned today at Christie's in London for £145,250 (4.65 million crowns), nearly three times its estimated price. The auction of modern art also featured works by Otto Gutfreund, whose sculpture sold for £22,500 (720,000 crowns).
    Štyrský's double-sided painting depicts a landscape with a church on a hill on the front, while the back of the canvas shows St. Sebastian. The estimated price was £30,000 to £50,000. In the end, a buyer on the phone from Bratislava paid £145,250 including auction fees.
    According to the auction catalog, the painting was acquired in 1946 from Štyrský's long-time artistic partner, Czech painter Toyen, by the Neumann couple from Switzerland. The current owner inherited the painting and put it up for auction.
    Among Czech artists, Otto Gutfreund was most frequently represented in the modern art auction with sculptures and drawings. His sculpture Cellist at £22,500 significantly exceeded the estimated price of £4,000 to £6,000.
    Gutfreund's bronze Viki found a buyer for £12,500, at the lower limit of the estimated price. From his other offered works, a drawing titled Cubist Head sold for £2,000, while another small sculpture Lovers found a new owner for £2,375, although several of his drawings did not sell.
    None of the four collages by Jiří Kolář sold. A collage by Karel Čapek was withdrawn from the auction.
    Today's auction of 260 items followed the main auction of modern and impressionist art that Christie's held on Wednesday evening. The main stars were Pablo Picasso's painting Femme assise (Seated Woman) from 1949, which sold for £8.6 million, and the canvas by Belgian surrealist René Magritte from 1928 Les jours gigantesques (Gigantic Days), which was auctioned for £7.2 million, approximately seven times its estimated price.
    On Wednesday evening, the offered works sold for £92.5 million. Sotheby's, Christie's main rival, held its modern art sale on Tuesday evening, which brought in £75 million. Both results are at the lower end of the overall estimated prices. The auctions kick off three weeks of major sales in London.