(Budweis 1866–1936 Zürich) The Dancer, signed Otto Pilny, oil on canvas, 120 x 80.5 cm, framed, minor damage, abrasion, (Rei)

Exhibition label Künstlerhaus Wien 1911, no. 698 confirmed by Dr Wladimir Aichelburg. Provenance:The artist’s family; Otto Pilny: Born in Budweis in southern Bohemia, Otto Pilny came to Prague in 1873 as a child and probably studied at the academy of painting here. He set off on his first journey to the Orient in 1885 at the age of 19. He spent two years with a tent, painting equipment and provisions on the caravan route between Cairo and Tripolis, accompanied only by his dog. He returned home after several eventful years. However, he didn’t stay long, going back to Egypt between 1889 and 1892. One view of the interior of a mosque, which remained the property of the family, is inscribed “Cairo 1897” which suggests that Pilny was in Egypt more often than had previously been thought. In 1906 the Egyptian viceroy Abbas Hilmi II Bey (1874 Cairo-1944 Geneva) awarded Otto Pilny the Order of the Medjidie 4th Class. The Turkish Order with its five classes was established by Sultan Abdul Medjid in 1852 in recognition of services to the imperial government. Otto Pilny was awarded the honour for his services as court painter to the Egyptian viceroy. (Literature: Silke Köhn, Otto Pilny, in: Sammler Journal, November 2009)