Freeman's Achieves Second Highest Auction Result For Czech Artist Josef Šíma With Sale of Europa, 1927
Rediscovered Masterpiece Achieves $1.5 million, Over 407% Above the Low Estimate
On a spring New York day, Freeman’s achieved the second-highest auction result for a work by Czech artist Josef Šíma with the recently rediscovered masterpiece Europa (1927). The oil on canvas, which sold for $1,522,000 (estimated at $300,000–500,000), achieved more than 407% above the low estimate. Leading the day’s Impressionist and Modern Art auction, the painting offered from Philadelphia’s Ingersoll Family Collection is among the most significant reappearances of a 20th-century avant-garde painting in recent memory, having been hidden from public view for nearly a century.
Lot 22 | Josef Šíma (Czech, 1891-1971), Europa, 1927 | Sold for $1,522,000
Property from the Ingersoll Family Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Following a flurry of bidding activity spanning over ten minutes, including phone, absentee, and online participation from six bidders, Europa sold to a Czech online buyer via the Freeman’s Live Room. The sale marks the highest result for the artist’s work from the 1920s, considered his rarest and most coveted period.
Overall, the sale realized over $2.5 million, with the firm welcoming 24% new buyer participation, bidders from 37 countries, and a sold-by-value rate of 147%.
Speaking to this landmark result is Raphaël Chatroux, Vice President, Head of Department, Impressionist and Modern Art. "I couldn't be more thrilled. Today’s results are a powerful confirmation ofŠíma’s relevance in the current art market, especially in contrast to Surrealism. This remarkable price also honors both Mr. Ingersoll’s visionary eye and Philadelphia’s tradition of forward-thinking collecting. It’s a unique story that resonates with Freeman's core values, so it feels like a full-circle moment to me, too."
The Rediscovery of the Century: Europa’s Journey
Painted in Paris during a pivotal moment in Šíma’s career, Europa embodies the artist’s shift away from Cubism toward a deeply symbolic and metaphysical visual language. The composition—featuring two headless torsos beneath a hovering cosmic egg—explores themes of creation, unity, and the origins of existence. The egg, a recurring motif in Šíma’s work, serves as a powerful symbol of both genesis and universal connection.
Left: Josef Šíma, Europa, 1927 (oil on canvas, 99.7 x 73cm), Sold at Freeman’s
Right: Josef Šíma, Europa, 1927 (oil on canvas, 80 x 65 cm)
Previously unknown to scholars, the version of Europa offered at Freeman’s is closely related to the artist’s celebrated example in the Moravian Gallery in Brno, which was long considered unique. Its rediscovery prompted renewed scholarly attention, with leading Šíma scholar Rea Michalová, Ph.D describing it as “the rediscovery of the century.” First owned by visionary collector Bernard M. Davis, Europa later entered the collection of Robert Sturgis Ingersoll, a prominent figure in American cultural life and longtime director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The work remained in the Ingersoll family collection for decades, preserving its remarkable historical continuity, before heading to the auction block.
Additional Sale Highlights 
From Left to Right:
Lot 44 | Gabriele Münter (German, 1877-1962), Stilleben mit grauer Teekanne (Still Life with Gray Teakettle), 1935 | Sold for $121,600
Lot 24 | Christian Bérard (French, 1902–1949), Pair of Cartouches for the "Bal du Panache" held at the Maison de L'Amérique Latine, Paris, 1947 | Sold for $70,400
Beyond the day’s remarkable success, other top highlights of the auction included Gabriele Münter’s Stilleben mit grauer Teekanne (Still Life with Gray Teakettle), 1935 (selling for $121,600 against a low estimate of $50,000), Christian Bérard’s Pair of Cartouches for the "Bal du Panache" held at the Maison de L'Amérique Latine, Paris, 1947 (realizing $70,400 against a low estimate of $50,000), and Grigory Gluckmann’s Ballet Dancer (achieving $51,200 against a low estimate of $40,000). The results of Freeman’s April 29 sale demonstrated continued robust interest in rare and unique works of the 20th century, including the surreal and poetically abstract.
Further top lots include:
- Lot 36 | Henri Jean Guillaume Martin (French, 1860-1943) | Labastide du Vert (Lot), 1908 | Sold for $64,000
- Lot 61 | Albert Marquet (French, 1875-1947) | Vue de Laghouat à Travers la Palmeraie (Algérie), 1921 | Sold for $60,800
- Lot 9 | Grigory Gluckmann (Belarusian, 1898-1973) | Ballet Dancer | Sold for $51,200
- Lot 63 | Roger Mühl (French, 1929-2008) | Cap d'Antibes | Sold for $44,800