Washing Up III - Břetislav Benda

Bronze sculpture titled “Washing Up III” by Czech academic sculptor Břetislav Benda ranks among the remarkable works of the 1920s. It stands out for both its masterful artistic execution and its distinctive originality. The sculpture was exhibited repeatedly. It was first presented at the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris in 1925, where it received favorable reviews from the local press.

Břetislav Benda (1897–1983) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and was a student of the founders of modern Czech sculpture, J. V. Myslbek and Jan Štursa. During his lifetime, he created an extensive body of work – many small sculptures and more than a hundred life-size and larger-than-life sculptures, located in the Czech Republic and abroad. Benda's work can be considered the culmination of Jan Štursa's artistic legacy.

The main theme that sculptor Benda devoted himself to was female figures, especially nudes; he himself was called the sculptor of the female body. He sums it up in his own words: "I know of no motif more beautiful than a woman in all her variations; for a sculptor, she is an inexhaustible subject. Through my sculptures, I want to express the infinite beauty of the human body, but also other human feelings."