Karel Purkyně (15 March 1834, Wrocław – 5 April 1868, Prague) was a painter in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was one of the most prominent proponents of realism in Czech art in the second half of the 19th century.

Biography

He was the son of the physiologist and anatomist Jan Evangelista Purkyně, and developed an interest in art while still young. Early influences included the Baroque painters

Karel Škréta Karel Škréta Šotnovský ze Závořic (1610 – 1674) was a Czech portrait painter who worked in the Baroque style. He lived through the Thirty Years' War which caused him some hardships as a Protestant which led him to leave Prague for Saxony ...

and

Petr Brandl Petr Brandl (Peter Johannes Brandl or Jan Petr Brandl) (24 October 1668 – 24 September 1735) was a Czech painter of the late Baroque in the bilingual Kingdom of Bohemia. Brandl was the sixth child in a Czech-German family. His father, Michal ...

and the paintings of the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

. He spent a year in Munich studying with Johann Baptist Berdelle (1813-1876) before traveling to Paris, where he worked with Thomas Couture; there he copied paintings by the

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

and encountered the work of contemporary French artists. He was particularly struck by the works of Gustave Courbet. Upon returning to Prague, Purkyně became known primarily as a portraitist, though a handful of works in other genres are known. He also made a name for himself as an organizer of artistic events and as an art critic.

Sources

*Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová, ed. ''19th-Century Art in Bohemia: (1790–1910) - Painting, Sculpture, Decorative Arts''. Prague; National Gallery in Prague, 2009.

External links

Karel Purkyně
@ abART
"Karel Purkyně: Podobizna kováře Jecha" (Portrait of a Blacksmith)
a video from Česká televize 1834 births 1868 deaths Painters from the Austrian Empire Scholars from the Austrian Empire Artists from Wrocław Czech art critics 19th-century Czech painters Czech male painters 19th-century male writers Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery 19th-century Czech male artists {{CzechRepublic-painter-stub

Biography

Sources

Further reading

External links