Muslimský trh s otrokyněmi. Autor: OTTO PILNY, 1910 | „The Slave Market Presentation“. Signed and Dated: OTTO PILNY 1910

There is not that much information about Otto Pilny who began his artistic education in Prague. Pilny also lived in Vienna and ended up settling in Zurich. Just like Ludwig Deutsch (1855-1935), Rudolf Ernst (1854-1932), and Carl Leopold Müller (1834-1892), Pilny was encouraged to travel abroad. During his two trips to Egypt, a favorite destination of the Austro-Hungarian school, the first one in 1889 and later en 1892, he acquired the taste of painting Orientalist scenes of Middle Eastern landscapes, life, customs and people, something that he continued duing for his entire artistic career. His paintings also captured scences of the Islamic culture and traditions. In recent years, Pilny’s work have attracted the eye of Museum curators, collectors and art dealers alike setting a new world record for the artist at Sotheby’s Doha, on March 18, 2009, Sale D09003, Lot 48 „Evening Prayers“ which sold for $326,500 USD