Jaroslav František Julius Věšín ( bg, Ярослав Вешин, ''Yaroslav Veshin''; 23 May 1860 – 9 May 1915) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

painter who mainly worked in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and who was noted as a master of genre painting. The realistic depiction of battle scenes from the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

(1912) are the subject of a substantial part of his work.

Life

Věšín was born in the town of Vraný in what is today

Kladno District Kladno District ( cs, okres Kladno) is a district (''okres'') within the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The capital of the district is the city of Kladno. List of municipalities Běleč - Běloky - Beřovice - Bílichov - Ble ...

of the

Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( cz, Středočeský kraj, german: Mittelböhmische Region) is an administrative unit ( cz, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in ...

. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, but moved to the Academy of Fine Arts Munich in 1881 and graduated in 1883. Afterwards he worked in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and 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 ...

, with his paintings of the period mainly related to Slovak village life. Věšín arrived in Bulgaria in 1897 and remained there for the remainder of his life. Until 1904, he was a professor at the National Academy of Fine Arts in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

and mainly worked in the area of genre painting, with notable paintings such as ''Threshing near Radomir'' (1897), ''Ploughman'' (or ''Land'', 1899), ''Horse market in Sofia'' (1899), ''Smugglers'' (1899), ''In front of a market'' (1899), ''Threshing'' (1900), etc. The main topic of his interest was the life and labour of the Bulgarian villager. After 1904, Věšín became the head painter with the

Ministry of War Ministry of War may refer to: * Ministry of War (imperial China) (c.600–1912) * Chinese Republic Ministry of War (1912–1946) * Ministry of War (Kingdom of Bavaria) (1808–1919) * Ministry of War (Brazil) (1815–1999) * Ministry of War (Estoni ...

and, although he did not abandon his old interests (with works such as ''Coaler'' (1910), ''Lumberjacks'' (1910), ''On the game's track'' (1910), ''Hunter with hounds'' (1911), etc.), he became famous with his masterpieces of battle painting: ''Manoeuvres'' (series began in 1899 and lasted until the Balkan Wars, ''The

Samara flag The Samara Flag ( bg, Самарско знаме, ''Samarsko zname'', russian: Самарское знамя, ''Samarskoye znamya'') is an important military symbol of the Bulgarian Army. The flag, woven by local nuns, was given to the Bulgarian ...

'' (1911), ''Onslaught'' (or ''Bayonet charge'', 1913), ''The Turkish retreat at

Lüleburgaz Lüleburgaz (, Modern Greek: Λουλέ Μπουργκάς ''Lule Burgas'', Bulgarian: Люлебургаз ''Lyuleburgaz''), Bergoulion (Ancient Greek: Βεργούλιον) or Arcadiopolis (Ancient Greek: Αρκαδιόυπολις ''Arkadiópol ...

'' (1913), ''Lüleburgaz-

Çatalca Çatalca (Metrae; ) is a city and a rural district in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the largest district in Istanbul by area. It is in East Thrace, on the ridge between the Marmara and the Black Sea. Most people living in Çatalca are either farmers o ...

'' (1913) and a series of sketches and complete works on the siege of Edirne, among which ''Bibouac in front of Edirne'' (1913), ''Resting after 13 March 1913'' (1913), etc. Many of his works are displayed in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Sofia. Among Věšín's students were Nikola Petrov, Atanas Mihov, and other major Bulgarian painters.

References

* 1860 births 1915 deaths People from Kladno District Bulgarian people of Czech descent Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Academy of Fine Arts, Prague alumni 19th-century Czech painters Czech male painters 20th-century Czech painters 19th-century Bulgarian painters 20th-century Bulgarian painters 19th-century Czech male artists 20th-century Czech male artists Painters from Austria-Hungary Emigrants from Austria-Hungary People from the Principality of Bulgaria {{Bulgaria-painter-stub