Soběslav Hippolyt Pinkas, Interior with Man Reading, 1800s, Oil on Board, Framed

Details

Description

Title:

Attributed to Soběslav Hippolyt Pinkas (1827–1901)

Interior with a Man Reading
Bohemia / Prague, circa 1890–1895

Oil on Wood
… Read more Title:

Attributed to Soběslav Hippolyt Pinkas (1827–1901)

Interior with a Man Reading
Bohemia / Prague, circa 1890–1895

Oil on Wood
25 × 20 cm (approx.)
Original gilt historicist frame, period

:

This refined late-19th-century interior scene depicts a bearded gentleman seated at a table, shown in profile, absorbed in reading. The composition is intimate and contemplative, illuminated by soft lateral light and rendered in a warm brown-golden palette dominated by umber, ochre and deep red tones.

The interior is carefully staged with characteristic studio elements: a dark glass bottle and drinking glass on the table, a metal vase with flowers, and—most notably—a small framed landscape painting hanging on the wall, a recurring and highly distinctive motif in the mature work of Soběslav Hippolyt Pinkas.

The painting is executed with confident, economical brushwork and subtle tonal transitions typical of Central European academic realism of the late 19th century. The original gilt historicist frame, with toothed ornamental detailing, corresponds closely to frames documented on Pinkas’s works from the 1890s and is likely original to the painting.

Attribution:

The work is strongly attributed to Soběslav Hippolyt Pinkas (1827–1901), one of the most important Czech painters of the second half of the 19th century, active in Prague and Paris.

The attribution is supported by multiple stylistic and compositional parallels with documented Pinkas paintings from the period 1888–1895, including:

the recurring motif of a male figure in profile reading at a table

the warm, restrained brown-gold palette and soft directional lighting

the presence of everyday studio objects (bottle, glass, flowers)

the highly characteristic “painting within a painting” on the wall

the overall introspective, bourgeois interior atmosphere typical of Pinkas’s late genre scenes


Comparable works by Pinkas are held in the collections of the National Gallery in Prague and appear in Czech auction records from the late 19th century onward.

While the painting is unsigned, the stylistic correspondence places it firmly within Pinkas’s mature period and suggests a previously undocumented or privately held work.

Condition:

The painting is in very good condition, age-appropriate craquelure consistent with late-19th-century oil technique. No visible overpainting. The frame shows minor wear consistent with age. See less