Alois Wachsman (14 May 1898, in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

– 16 May 1942, in Jičín) was a Czech painter, stage designer and architect.

Life

He stems from an artist family. His granduncle was Bedřich Wachsmann and his cousin was

Jiří Voskovec Jiří Voskovec (), born Jiří Wachsmann and known in the United States as George Voskovec (June 19, 1905 – July 1, 1981) was a Czech actor, writer, dramatist, and director who became an American citizen in 1955. Throughout much of his career ...

. From 1917 to 1922 he studied architecture at the Prague Technical University (

CTU CTU may refer to: Schools * Can Tho University, Vietnam * Capitol Technology University, Maryland * Catholic Theological Union, Illinois * Cebu Technological University, Philippines * Chienkuo Technology University, Taiwan * Chilean Traditional Un ...

) and in 1920 was one of the founders of

Devětsil The Devětsil () was an association of Czech avant-garde artists, founded in 1920 in Prague. From 1923 on there was also an active group in Brno. The movement discontinued its activities in 1930 (1927 in Brno). Founded as U. S. Devětsil (Uměleck ...

. From 1925 to 1928 he studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts under

Josef Gočár Josef Gočár (13 March 1880 in Semín – 10 September 1945 in Jičín) was a Czech architect. It was one of the founders of modern architecture in Czech Republic. Life Josef Gočár received his early instruction at the State Technical School ...

. From 1923 he was a member of the Association of Fine Artists, and from 1937 he lived in Dvůr Králové.

Works

As a painter Wachsman was initially under the strong influence of French

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

, later, his paintings were close to

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, but with very distinctive poetic sentiments. At the end of his life he painted almost realistic paintings with religious themes, again with characteristic poetry. He also worked as an illustrator and theatrical architect for the

Osvobozené divadlo Osvobozené divadlo (1926–1938) (''Liberated Theatre'' or ''Prague Free Theatre'') was a Prague avant-garde theatre scene founded as the theatre section of an association of Czech avant-garde artists Devětsil (''Butterbur'') in 1926. The theatr ...

and National Theatre. Between 1927 and 1930 he worked with

in the design of the Church of St. Wenceslas in Prague-

Vršovice Vršovice is a district of Prague. All of Vršovice lies within the Prague 10 administrative district. Vršovice is located south-east of the city centre. It borders Vinohrady to the north, Nusle to the south-west, Michle to the south and Straš ...

References

1898 births 1942 deaths Artists from Prague Academy of Fine Arts, Prague alumni 20th-century Czech painters Czech male painters Architects from Prague 20th-century Czech male artists {{CzechRepublic-painter-stub

Life

Works

See also

References