African King

In his work, Josef Čapek drew inspiration from synthetic cubism, using its composition principles. The black king is a frontal stylised figure compiled from geometric shapes and imitations of real structures that are complemented with several more realistically rendered objects, for example a pipe. Similar to the sailors, the king evokes exoticism, adventure, and unknown worlds, which is connected with Čapek’s theoretic interest in the art of natural nations.