This expressionistic portrait of two peasant girls was executed around 1930s by listed Czech painter František Hofman (1891, Pøeštice - 1969, Prague). In his work, he focused on nudes, women and portraits. His works include a painting by President Masaryk, Mayor Sokol Josef Scheiner, Renata Tyršová and the Infant Jesus of Prague.He was born in Pøeštice in the family of lawyer Ludvík Hofman and his wife Marie, née Štìpková from Pøerov. He had two younger sisters, Maria, married by Hlaváèková, and Anna, married by Romenská. Anna´s husband, Jiøí Romenský, was the director of the sugar factory in Libochovice, who died in a concentration camp during World War II.

From 1908 to 1915 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague with professors František Ženíšek and August Bröms. In 1928 he exhibited at the Exhibition of Contemporary Culture in Brno. In 1931 he exhibited with the Union of Fine Artists in Topiè´s salon in Prague and in 1940–1942 in Zbeèno u Rakovníka also in Rakovník salons. After 1950, circumstances forced him to focus more on natural scenery. From the beginning of the 1930s until 1964, he lived and created in his studio after the sculptor Bohuslav Schnirch in Mikovcova Street in Prague-Vinohrady. The company of his equally artistic friends gathered here. However, he spent most of the year traveling. He went to the Beskydy Mountains for natural motives and regularly spent his summer stays in a hunting lodge near Karlovice in the Jesenice region. He drove ethnographic studies of folk costumes and unique photographs from his Slovak travels.

After 1964, he was deleted from the Union of Czechoslovak Fine Artists and evicted from his studio. An unsuitable room in the U Dvou sluncù house in Nerudova Street was allocated as a spare space. His name was last mentioned by Toman´s New Dictionary of Czech Fine Artists in the 1947 edition, which did not appear in the 2003 edition.He married Marta Pešlová for the first time in Prague on 15 May 1937, the daughter of the owner of a letter paper factory in Prague. The villa in Zbeèno u Rakovníka became the family residence. Two sons, Václav and Jiøí, were born in the marriage. He soon divorced, but maintained contact with his family until the mid-1950s. The son Václav and his mother later emigrated from Czechoslovakia to Australia. In the last years of his life, as a patient, he married for the second time.He was buried in the Na Malvazinkách cemetery in Prague, but a small family tomb was destroyed by vandals a few years ago.Exhibitions (selection):1936 - Topic´s Salon Prague [2013 - Pøeštice, House of History of Pøeštice "Forgotten painters from Pøeštice".

The artist is listed in: Dr.Prokop Toman, Dictionary of Czech Painters, Prague, 1947.

Inscription: signed lower right.

Technique: oil on canvas/cardboard . Original period frame.

Measurements: unframed w 18 1/8" x h 14 3/8" (46 x 36,5 cm), framed w 24 1/4" x h 19 7/8" (61,5 x 50,5 cm)

Condition: very good.