From its very beginning, Václav Špála’s work was very aligned with the character of the young Czechoslovak Republic – it was joyful, comprehensible, expressed the modern spirit, and, at the same time, was appropriate for the interiors of municipal offices, institutions and private homes, particularly his bouquets and still lifes. The year 1935, when this painting was created, was one of the most fruitful periods in the artist’s career in terms of still lifes. On the occasion of his 50th birthday, the Mánes Association of Fine Artists organised a comprehensive exhibition, which was accompanied by a monograph with an introductory text by Antonín Matějček. Around this time Špála’s bouquets were attaining an expressive fullness, some distinguished by complex shapes and spatial structures. They open up a view of the landscape or evoke its shapes in paintings leaning against the studio wall. Špála titled them simply Bouquet or identified them by the type of flower depicted. Most often, these were peonies, tulips, lilacs, irises and lilies of the valley. In the listed, romantically inclined still life, we encounter the motif of peonies, with the white and red flowers creating a dynamic contrast with the deep, azure landscape in the background. The deep blue that represented the “heraldic colour of the Czech landscape” for Špála appears here in its full intensity and even makes its way to the foreground of the painting. The presence of a striped ceramic vase in the foreground simultaneously anchors the composition and creates a subtle vertical axis.

The canvas is labeled no. 859 on the verso in double brackets and appears in the artist’s inventory of works (E. Burget / R. Musil: Václav Špála, soupis díla /1885–1946/, Prague: 2002, p. 85). The note in the inventory also speaks to the excellence of the work, with Špála writing that the sale was arranged by “Filla for Barták,” referring to the painter Emil Filla and probably the well-known metal artisan Karel Barták. The painting comes from a quality Prague collection. Assessed in consultation with Prof. J. Zemina and PhDr. R. Michalová, Ph.D. The expert opinion of PhDr. K. Srp is attached: “[...] Peonies is not, therefore, a still life that is in any way superficial; it requires careful observation, through which Špála draws the viewer into a visually striking interplay of colours and simple shapes. […].”