Václav Jansa (22 October 1859, Slatinice, near

Most Most or Möst or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria * Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic ** Most District, a district surrounding the city ** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city ** A ...

– 29 June 1913,

Černošice Černošice () is a town in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,400 inhabitants. The town is part of the Prague metropolitan area. It lies southwest of Prague, on the Berounka River. History ...

) was a Czech landscape painter and illustrator; best known for his watercolors of the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

in Prague.

Biography

Jansa was born in Slatinice (an extinct village in the area of today's

-Čepirohy). When he was still a boy, his parents were hired as servants for Johann Joseph, (1854–1944), so they moved to Solany, near Děčany in Litoměřice District. While there, he was apprenticed to a merchant, but drew and painted as a hobby. Jansa-Zvikov

Eventually, he was able to gain admission to the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, where he studied with Antonín Lhota. Later, he transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, where his instructors were

Eduard von Lichtenfels Eduard Peithner von Lichtenfels (18 November 1833, Vienna — 22 January 1913, Berlin) was an Austrian landscape painter. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, under Franz Steinfeld and Thomas Ender. He taught landscape painting at th ...

and

Leopold Carl Müller Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

.Brief biography
@ Časopis Krkonoše. After some time as a painter in Prague, he began to travel, working mostly in Southern Bohemia and Krkonoše. He also provided illustrations for '' Zlatá Praha'' and ''

Světozor __NOTOC__ ''Světozor'' ("Seeing the World") was a 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 by the British p ...

''. In 1894–1895, together with

Karel Vítězslav Mašek Karel Vítězslav Mašek (1 September 1865, Prague - 24 July 1927, Prague) was a Czech painter, architect, illustrator and art professor. Life He studied briefly at the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague with Antonín Lhota then, in 1884, transfe ...

and Vojtěch Bartoněk he worked on a monumental painting designed by

Mikoláš Aleš Mikoláš Aleš (18 November 1852 – 10 July 1913) was a Czech painter. Aleš is estimated to have had over 5,000 published pictures; he painted for everything from magazines to playing cards to textbooks. His paintings were not publicized to ...

. It was called ''Pobití Sasíků pod Hrubou Skálou'' (The Slaughter of the Saxons at Hrubá Skála, commemorating a 13th-century Czech victory) and measured 8.5 by 10 meters (28 by 33 feet). He was also one of several artists who collaborated on creating a panorama of the Battle of Lipany, designed by

Luděk Marold Luděk Alois Marold (7 August 1865, Prague – 1 December 1898, Prague) was a Czech painter and illustrator, best known for his panorama depicting the Battle of Lipany. It is the largest painting in the Czech Republic and currently has its own pav ...

, which is 11 meters (36 feet) high and 95 meters (311 feet) long. During that same period, the Prague city government began to redevelop parts of the old city (Staré Město) and the

Jewish ghetto In the Jewish diaspora, a Jewish quarter (also known as jewry, ''juiverie'', ''Judengasse'', Jewynstreet, Jewtown, or proto-ghetto) is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were ...

. A commission was established to create an inventory and document the buildings that were slated for demolition.Text of the legislation and the original plan
@ Kramerius. Pursuant to this, the

Mánes Union of Fine Arts The Mánes Association of Fine Artists ( or ''S.V.U.''; commonly abbreviated as ''Manes'') was an artists' association and exhibition society founded in 1887 in Prague and named after painter Josef Mánes. The Manes was significant for its inte ...

engaged Jansa to paint as much of the area as possible. During the late 1890s, he produced over 150 watercolors depicting the Staré Město and the Nové Město. Many of these were published in book form in 1908 and 1911. Ironically, the small village where he was born was razed in the late 1960s, to make room for the expansion of a coal mine. The area has since been reclaimed as pastures and forest.

Selected scenes of Prague

Vaclav Jansa - Na Zderaze od severu.JPG, In Zderaz Vaclav Jansa - Dlouha trida, U zlateho stromu.JPG, House at the Golden Tree Vaclav Jansa - cp.1220, Helmovy mlyny.JPG, Helmovy Mills Vaclav Jansa - kaple Boziho hrobu na Zderaze.JPG, Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre

References

External links

ArtNet: More landscapes by Jansa.Václav Jansa
@ abART {{DEFAULTSORT:Jansa, Vaclav 1859 births 1913 deaths 19th-century Czech painters 20th-century Czech painters Czech landscape painters Czech illustrators Czech watercolourists Cityscape artists Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni People from Most (city) Czech male painters 19th-century Czech male artists 20th-century Czech male artists Painters from Austria-Hungary

Biography

Selected scenes of Prague

References

Further reading

External links