Josef Váchal (1884-1969)

MODERN LORD`S SUPPER

1925
Colour woodcut on hand-made paper 25x24 cm (43x34 cm), recto in pencil lower right below the print area the author`s signature and date "J. Váchal 25", lower centre the title of the work "Moderní večeře Páně" and lower left the note "/Z Postyly Kacířské/", signed lower right in print "J. Váchal". A very rare copy from Váchal`s peak period. Váchal printed this motif as part of the book Koruna bludařstva to jest Postyla kacířská. As Váchal himself states in the publishing notes, this book was printed in 16 copies and furthermore "These woodcuts were, apart from the book, printed three more times on separate sheets and the blocks were destroyed during the work"; this is therefore one of a total of three loose sheets that Váchal produced. The sheet represents a self-critically tuned update of the traditional theme, in which figures of modern society gather around Christ. Caricatured gestures and deformed faces transform the biblical motif into a critical image of human weakness, hypocrisy and spiritual emptiness. The contrast between the radiant figure of Christ and the dark, cramped interior emphasises the chasm between the ideal and reality. Váchal here uses woodcut as a means of moral commentary, in which mysticism merges with satire and contemporary scepticism.