Alois Bubák (20 August 1824,

Kosmonosy Kosmonosy is a town in Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,200 inhabitants. The town is known for its psychiatric hospital. Administrative division Kosmonosy consists of two municipal parts ...

– 6 March 1870,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

) was a Czech painter of

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

and an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

. He was a son of a

wood carver Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ...

. After graduating from a gymnasium in

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It lies on the left bank of the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region. I ...

, he started to study at a college of theology in Prague on the wish of his parents. However, his talent and love of art soon brought him to the

Academy of Fine Arts in Prague The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (; AVU) is an art college in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded in 1799, it is the oldest art college in the country. The school offers twelve master's degree programs and one doctoral program. History Starting ...

. His teachers were Mr. Ruben, director of the academy, and Maximilian Joseph Haushofer, a landscape painter. Both appreciated his fast progress and his desire for an original artistic expression. He focused on

landscape art Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coh ...

. As a student, he traveled to the

Krkonoše The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech–Polish bor ...

(Giant Mountains), the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and South-West

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. He then successfully presented his works on several exhibitions. The famous ones included ''Landscape around the Elbe'', ''Landscape under Studničov'', ''Gossau Lake'' and two paintings from

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the river Traun in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden ...

area. Emperor

Ferdinand I of Austria Ferdinand I ( 19 April 1793 – 29 June 1875) was Emperor of Austria from March 1835 until his abdication in December 1848. He was also King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia (as Ferdinand V), King of Lombardy– ...

bought his depiction of Holná pond in South Bohemia. Critics also appreciated his ''Plökenstein Lake in Bohemian Forest'', for its realism, detail in the front and broad perspective in the rear. According to them, this painting overpassed those of his teacher Haushofer. Other famous landscapes included ''Rainy weather in the Alps'', ''Bezděz Area'', ''Around Trosky'' and others. Apart from creating

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

s and aquarelles, he also taught painting at a business academy and at a high school for girls in Prague. He contributed many

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

s to '' Květy'' and ''

Světozor __NOTOC__ ''Světozor'' ("Seeing the World") was a Czech language, Czech-language illustrated magazine published in 19th and 20th century. History and profile ''Světozor'' was created by Pavel Josef Šafařík in 1834. Šafařík was inspired b ...

'' magazines (e.g., Hvězda Summer Villa or

Strakonice Strakonice (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Strakonice consists of eight municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Strakonice ...

palace). He was very active and hard-working, painting and teaching tirelessly to support his large family. The persistent strain and a lack of rest contributed to his contracting of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in the summer of 1868 and his premature death two years later. — primary source of data for this article

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bubak, Alois 1824 births 1870 deaths Artists from the Austrian Empire People from Kosmonosy 19th-century Czech illustrators Academy of Fine Arts in Prague alumni 19th-century Czech painters Czech male painters 19th-century Czech male artists Illustrators from Bohemia Czech magazine illustrators Czech landscape painters Czech art educators