Jaroslav Augusta (4 September 1878,

Humpolec Humpolec (; german: Humpoletz) is a town in Pelhřimov District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Brunka, Hněvkovice, Kletečná, Krasoňov, Lhotka, Petrovice, Plačk ...

- 28 February 1970,

Banská Štiavnica Banská Štiavnica (; german: Schemnitz; hu, Selmecbánya (Selmec), ) is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. For its size, the caldera is known as the Štiavnica Mountain ...

) was a Czech-born painter and art teacher, based in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Biography

His father, Petr Augusta, was a local merchant. His younger brother, , would also become a painter. From 1897-1901 he studied with Professor

Maximilian Pirner Maximilian Pirner ( cs, Maxmilián Pirner; 13 February 1853 in Sušice – 2 April 1924 in Prague) was a Czech painter. He was a member of the Vienna Secession, and associated with the Mánes Union of Fine Arts. Life and work He was enrolled from ...

at the

Academy of Fine Arts in Prague The Academy of Fine Arts, Prague ( cs, Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze; 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 ...

. This was followed by three years at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

, with

Johann Caspar Herterich Johann Caspar Herterich, sometimes known as Hans (3 April 1843, Ansbach – 26 October 1905, Munich) was a German history and genre painter. He was also a popular Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. Life and work He was the son of ...

and

Carl von Marr Carl von Marr (February 14, 1858 – July 10, 1936) was an American-born German painter whose work encompassed religious and mythological subjects, genre, and portraits. He was also a professor of art in Munich. Biography He was born in Mi ...

. His artistic education was completed at a private studio, where he developed an interest in

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

and customs. During this time, he founded an art colony at

Detva Detva ( hu, Gyetva) is a town in central Slovakia with a population of 14,686. It is situated beneath the mountain Poľana. Etymology The name means 'youth' in Slovak language, Slovak and was probably motivated by the majority of young people amo ...

(1901), and was among the founders of a group of Hungarian-Slovak artists (1903), based in

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Sl ...

.Brief biography of Augusta
@ Antik He enlisted in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and spent the years 1915-1918 as a Russian prisoner. This left him in poor health so, in 1920, he settled permanently in Banská Štiavnica, where he became a drawing professor. As time passed, he devoted himself less and less to painting.Entry on Augusta
@ the Czech Biographical Dictionary Later he received the title "" (Merited Artist), awarded by the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, ČSSR, formerly known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic or Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 to 29 March 1990, when it was renamed the Czechoslovak ...

. He wrote numerous articles for cultural magazines and an autobiography, ''Spomienky'' (Memories), which was published in 1962. Western European and Slovak open-air landscape painting were major influences. He also excelled at

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...

and works with social or

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

elements. While in the Tatra village of

Važec Važec (german: Waagsdorf or ; hu, Vázsec or ) is a village and municipality in Liptovský Mikuláš District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia, at the foot of Kriváň in the High Tatras mountains, Slovakia's symbolic and often conside ...

, he painted a well-known series of watercolors, which constitute an historical record of the area. He also travelled and painted extensively in the

Liptov Liptov () is a historical and geographical region in central Slovakia with around 140,000 inhabitants. The area is also known by the German name ''Liptau'', the Hungarian ''Liptó'', the Latin name ''Liptovium'' and the Polish ''Liptów''. Etymo ...

region. His paintings are represented in museums throughout Slovakia and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, notably at the

Moravian Gallery in Brno The Moravian Gallery in Brno ( cs, Moravská galerie v Brně) is the second largest art museum in the Czech Republic, established in 1961 by merging of two older institutions. It is situated in five buildings: Pražák Palace, Governor's Palace, ...

, and in several museums abroad.

References

External links

Self-portrait and collection of works by Augusta
@ Webumania
Works by and about Augusta
@ the

National Library of the Czech Republic The National Library of the Czech Republic ( cs, Národní knihovna České republiky) is the central library of the Czech Republic. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture. The library's main building is located in the historical Clementinum b ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Augusta, Jaroslav 1878 births 1970 deaths People from Humpolec People from Banská Štiavnica Academy of Fine Arts, Prague alumni Czechoslovak painters