Karel Capek Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Karel Capek Art Value Price Guide

Apr. 21, 2024
Karel Capek, (1890 – 1938), A) Zuidersee, 1931; B) Still Life with Suitcases, 1930–1932
Est: -
A) Zuidersee 1931 , ink on paper, 19x16cm, signed lower right: K.C., inscribed by the author's hand lower left: Zuidersee verso inscription "K. Scheinpflug" Provenance: – from the estate of Olga Scheinpflug (wife of Karel Capek) – donated to the current owner by Karel Scheinpflug Jr. Publicated: – Karel Capek's travelogue Pictures from Holland (1st edition Aventinum and Fr. Borovy, Prague 1932, p. 45) – Lidove noviny (No. 407, 15. 8. 1931, p. 5) B) Still Life with Suitcases 1930–1932, 20.5 x 17.5 cm, photographic positive developed on paper, the photograph shows a set of Capek's travel suitcases, on one of them, a preserved sticker with the author’s original Prague address: Dr. Karel Capek Prague II, Ricni Provenance: – from the estate of Olga Scheinpflug (wife of Karel Capek) – donated to the current owner by Karel Scheinpflug Jr. Expert opinions of Dr Pavla Pecinkova, dated January 18, 2024, enclosed. Further consulted with Dr Irena Zantovska Murray HonFRIBA, Professor Jaromir Zemina, Dr Jiri Machalicky and Vladimir Lekes.
Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery
Apr. 07, 2022
CAPEK KAREL: (1890-1938)
Est: €400 - €600
CAPEK KAREL: (1890-1938) Czech Writer & Playwright, best known for his science fiction works and the play R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots, 1920) which introduced the word 'robot'. A brief A.L.S., Karel Capek, one page, 8vo, n.p., n.d., to an editor, in Czechoslovakian. Capek sends his correspondent a story and asks for his manuscript to be returned, if possible sooner rather than later. Some very light, extremely minor age wear, about VG
International Autograph Auctions Europe, S.L.
Mar. 09, 2022
Karel Capek (Czech, 1890-1938) Composition with violin
Est: £2,000 - £3,000
Karel Capek (Czech, 1890-1938) Composition with violin monogramed and dated '23' (lower right) collage with gouache and charcoal 42.5 x 28cm (16 3/4 x 11in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Mar. 09, 2022
Karel Capek (Czech, 1890-1938) Composition with exclamation point
Est: £2,000 - £3,000
Karel Capek (Czech, 1890-1938) Composition with exclamation point monogramed and dated '23' (lower right) collage with gouache 42.5 x 28cm (16 3/4 x 11in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Mar. 09, 2022
Karel Capek (Czech, 1890-1938) Composition with a bottle of Rhum
Est: £2,000 - £3,000
Karel Capek (Czech, 1890-1938) Composition with a bottle of Rhum monogramed and dated '23' (lower right) collage with gouache 42.9 x 27.7cm (16 7/8 x 10 7/8in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Dec. 02, 2021
CAPEK KAREL: (1890-1938)
Est: €500 - €600
CAPEK KAREL: (1890-1938) Czech Writer & Playwright, best known for his science fiction works and the play R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots, 1920) which introduced the word 'robot'. A brief A.L.S., Karel Capek, one page, 8vo, n.p., n.d., to an editor, in Czechoslovakian. Capek sends his correspondent a story and asks for his manuscript to be returned, if possible sooner rather than later. Some very light, extremely minor age wear, about VG
International Autograph Auctions Europe, S.L.
Nov. 23, 2021
KAREL ÄAPEK (CZECH 1890-1938)
Est: £3,000 - £5,000
KAREL ÄAPEK (CZECH 1890-1938) Property from a Private Collection KAREL ÄAPEK (CZECH 1890-1938) Guitar Player signed with the artist's initials and dated K.Ä 1913 (lower right) gouache and pastel 31.2 x 23.3 cm (12 1/4 x 9 1/8 in) PROVENANCE: Auguste and Marie-Terese L'abbe, Zurich Sale, Sotheby's, London, 12 July 2007, lot 333 Whitford Fine Art, London, purchased at the above sale Purchased from the above by the present owner in 2007 Karel Äapek was a Czech writer, playwright and critic and the brother of the painter Josef Äapek. Karel has become best known for his science fiction literature, most famously his play Rossum's Universal Robots (1920) in which he invented the word robot. Although he is best remembered for his writing, Karel Äapek was also a skilled painter and fascinated in particular by Cubism, with his first paintings appearing in Prague in 1912. He was a member of the TvrdoÅ¡ÃjnÃ (The Obstinate Ones) group, and many of his works were shown at The Obstinate Onesâ exhibitions. Prague was arguably the most important centre for Cubism outside of Paris before the start of WWI, with its members most active between 1912 and 1914. Notable participants included Emil Filla, Josef Äapek, Otto Gutfreund and Pavel JanÃ¡k. Influenced by the Cubist works of Picasso and Braque, the group aimed to extract components from the French masters' works for their own creations. Unlike the violent and fragmented French cubist works, Czech Cubism was clean, regular and harmonious. Äapek's 1913 Cubist creation Guitar Player features a clearly delineated and simplistic half-length figure. The figure's arms and body are robotic and share qualities with the robot characters that would come to feature in his 1920 play.
Chiswick Auctions
Nov. 20, 2021
Capek - Postkarte an M. Tilschova
Est: €140 - €150
Capek, Karel (Schriftsteller, Malé Svatonovice 1890 - 1938 Prag). Eigenhändige Postkarte in tschechischer Sprache mit Unterschrift an Marie Tilschova (Schrifstellerin, 1899-1957). Poststempel 23.VI.(19)22. 9 x 14 cm. Frei übersetzt: 'Gnädige Frau, ich bin wieder in Hohe Tatra ich habe die Spur gefunden, die vielleicht von Ruttonys Schuh gewesen sein könnte. Kommen Sie nicht hierher, um zu schauen?'.- Unterhalb mit eigenhändigem Gruß und Unterschrift von Calma (d.i. Marie Vesela, Schrifstellerin, Sopranistin, 1881-1966).
Auktionshaus Schramm
Jul. 10, 2019
Karel Capek (Czech, 1890-1938) Composition with guitar
Est: £2,500 - £3,500
Karel Capek (Czech, 1890-1938) Composition with guitar signed with initials and dated 'K.C 19' (lower right)collage, gouache and black chalk on paper40 x 27cm (15 3/4 x 10 5/8in). Provenance: Auguste and Therese Labbe, Marseille. Private collection, UK. Purchased from the above in 2009.
Bonhams
Dec. 09, 2009
Karel Capek
Est: -
Autograph: Karel Capek One of the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century. He introduced and made popular the word “robot,” which first appeared in his 1921 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). He later named his brother Josef as the true inventor of the word. Signed booklet, 4.25 x 6.5, 48 pages, entitled Lásky Hra Osudná, 1922. Signed inside on the title page in black ink. Light crease to lower right corner of cover and inside pages, and some light wear and soiling to covers, otherwise fine condition. RRAuction COA.
RR Auction
Jan. 27, 2009
Karel Capek (Czech, 1890-1938) Collage with Guitar
Est: £2,000 - £3,000
Collage with Guitar signed 'H.C 19' (lower right) card, oil pastel and acrylic on paper 40 x 26.5cm (15 3/4 x 10 7/16in).
Bonhams
Jul. 12, 2007
Karel Capek, 1890-1938 , GUITAR PLAYER pastel and watercolour on paper laid onto board
Est: £1,800 - £2,500
signed with the initials and dated 1913 pastel and watercolour on paper laid onto board
Sotheby's
Feb. 23, 2005
CAPEK, Karel (1890-1938). R.U.R. Rossum's universal robots. Prague: Vydalo Aventinum, 1920.
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
8o. Original gray printed wrappers; boxed. Provenance: Capek's signed inscription in Czech to his mother-in-law, dated March 18, 1921, is on the first leaf. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY of Capek's play which introduced the word "robot" to the world; it is derived from the Czech robota, which means "drudgery" or "servitude." The word was coined by Capek's brother Joseph, a novelist and painter (the two Capek brothers were the best-known literary figures in liberated Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1939). Though the word "robot" now connotes a mechanical device capable of performing work on its own, Capek's "robots" were quasi-human figures fashioned from an artificial substitute for protoplasm, and formed in a "stamping mill." Capek's play, which reflected his concerns about advancing technology and automation, was an immediate worldwide success. In the play robots are produced on robot-run assembly lines to do work that humans do not want to do. They remember everything but cannot think of anything new or experience emotion. Frustrated with the limitations designed into them by their human creators, they eventually revolt against the humans, killing all but one. A major reason for the huge success of Capek's play may have been its dramatic exploration of the possibilities of automation technology and the nearly universal fear that machines would replace people, perhaps not in their lives but in their work. Thus the term "robot" came into our language reflecting both the promise and dangers of automation. R.U.R. was published in Czech in 1920, premiered in Prague early in 1921, was performed in New York in 1922, and issued in English translation in 1923. It was eventually translated into all the major languages. Though the colophon indicates that two thousand copies were printed, the First edition was very difficult to find. When OOC was written, OCLC cited only three copies in North American libraries (U. Nebraska-Lincoln, Texas A&M, U. Texas-Austin [HRC]). RLIN did not cite any copies of the first edition. OOC 249.
Christie's