(Vrany 1859-1915 Sofia)
A Sleigh Ride in Winter, signed, dated Jaroslav Vešín Mch 1890, oil on canvas, 56 x 96 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private Collection Germany, since 1900.

We are grateful to Aneliya Nikolaeva, Bulgarian National Gallery, Sofia for her scientific assistance.

From the early 1880s Jaroslav Vešín settled in Munich, where he continued his artistic education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts as a student of Karl von Piloty, Otto Seitz and Józef von Brandt. During this time he repeatedly went on short study trips to Moravian Slovakia, especially to the villages around the Tatra Mountains. During these visits Vešín developed a great fascination for motifs from Slavic folk life and winter scenes. In 1886, the well-known Slovak writer and good friend of the artist, Svetozár Hurban Vajansky, noted that Vešín‘s exhibition debut in 1883 at the Glass Palace in Munich marked the starting point of his moving genre scenes and a development in his artistic work. The free realisation of bodies and the energetic application of paint became characteristic of his spectacular winter landscapes. As in the present lot, Vešín virtuously emphasizes the contrast between the white snow and the colourful patterns of the traditional costumes. This composition enjoyed particular popularity, so that he took up this motif in different variations.