Charles Cerny (1892–1965), Maritime Still Life With Navigational Instruments, 1960

Born in Prague in 1892, Charles Cerny moved to France in 1913 and volunteered for the French army during World War I. After the war, he continued his artistic training in Paris and developed a body of work devoted to travel, maritime history, and great explorations.

A renowned painter, illustrator, and watercolorist, he exhibited regularly at the major Parisian art salons and received several awards throughout his career. His talent was recognized in 1952 with his appointment as Official Painter of the Navy, a prestigious title that allowed him to embark on French Navy vessels and enrich his work with firsthand knowledge of the maritime world.

Charles Cerny is known for his precise and well-researched compositions, featuring ships, antique maps, navigational instruments, and scenes of maritime life. His work, both historical and poetic, holds an important place in 20th-century French maritime painting.

He died in 1965, leaving behind a body of work highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts of naval art.

This composition is characteristic of Charles Cerny’s mature period. In it, the artist brings together several symbols of navigation and exploration: a three-masted ship, globes, a compass, nautical charts, an armillary sphere, scientific works, and various observational instruments. The ensemble evokes the history of the great discoveries, cartography, and the French maritime tradition.

The work stands out for its highly elaborate composition, reminiscent of a scholarly still life, in which each object contributes to a dialogue between science, geography, and maritime adventure. The presence of the ship at the center of the composition underscores the role of the sea as a vehicle for knowledge and exploration of the world. Painted in 1960, when Charles Cerny was already recognized as an Official Painter of the Navy, this canvas is a representative example of his interest in the naval world and instruments related to navigation.

For an auction catalog or exhibition, this work can be described as a particularly accomplished example of mid-20th-century French maritime painting.