The Czech Nightingale paints a little and remembers all of his pictures. The most of his works are owned by František Janeček

Karel Gott brushed up his brush again. This time, however, he worked with a clear idea in his mind – Three Musketeers. Several other artists joined Karel Gott in his efforts at the easel and their works will be auctioned on March 21 at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Prague in favor of the Krtek and Diamant endowment funds for children.

Karel Gott usually paints at night and this picture is no exception to this rule. “It is not ideal because artificial lighting lies and when I see a painting the next day during daylight I make corrections. But sometimes I am simply too busy to do that,“ says Gott. His musketeers were inspired by the musical of the same name that is currently on at the Broadway Theater in Prague. However, none of the real singers can be recognized in the picture. “I do not do portraits and I did not want to depict a concrete people,“ explains Gott. “If I painted Petr Kolář, people would asked me why Tomáš Trapl is not in the picture. I wanted to avoid such questions,“ he adds. He gives the same vague answer when asked about the value of the painting. “[Would you like me] to put a figure on the painting? Well, I cannot imagine that at all. Instead of painting I could have spent time on my work, my real money-making profession. Therefore, the price of the time is hard to assess...“
Painting has been Gott’s hobby for years. His great mentors were Josef Vyleťal, who is no longer among us, and Jiří Anderle. “They supported my efforts a lot. They believed that what matters is imagination and the rest is nothing but technique to which they introduced me. But they never interfered with my own stories. They said: “Count your blessings for having the power of imagination. We have many students who know how to do things but who have no ideas.“ Today, Karel Gott is the one who hands over his own experience. He shares it with his girlfriend Ivana Macháčková, which brings them in tricky situations. For instance, to this date they have not been able to clarify who of them painted The Cuban Girl.
”I came with the idea, I drew a sketch with a pencil and then asked Karel to show me how to work with colors. He got immersed in the work and did not let me get back to it, saying I should paint my own picture,“ says Macháčková with pretended irritation.
The Cuban Girl is one of a few canvases shown in Gott’s house in Bertramka, Prague. Yet he nearly lost it. As soon as his impresario František Janeček saw it he was ready to buy it. He owns the best part of Gott’s paintings, most of which he received as gifts or for a symbolic price. “Quite often, when František and me accomplish something extraordinary, he turns to me saying ‘I have a picture with you…’ and I given him one,“ the singer explains how the pictures are traded. Would Gott be upset if Janeček turned his painting into cash one day? He says: “But that’s his business! Once he is their owner – with which I agreed – the paintings are none of my business anymore. At the very outside, I can take a sad gulp,“ he adds.
So far Gott has painted about forty pictures and he remembers all of them. Some time ago he received a telephone inquiry from an antique shop and he was able to identify just over the phone that that painting in question was a counterfeit. Gott paints only a little and he is convinced that a flood of works devalues every artist. And he sees another advantage in his painting routine. “It’s better to own a picture by Gott who is alive and can verify the authenticity of his work than to have a Van Gogh piece that is a counterfeit.“