Antonín Procházka (5 June 1882, in Vážany – 9 June 1945, in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

) was a Czech

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

painter and graphic artist.

Biography

He graduated from the gymnasium in

Kroměříž Kroměříž (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. It is known for Kroměříž Castle with its castle gardens, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The historic town centre with the castle ...

then, in 1902, began studies at the

Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (AAAD, , abbreviated VŠUP, also known as UMPRUM) is a public university located in Prague, Czech Republic. The university offers the study disciplines of painting, illustration and graphics, ...

with

Vlaho Bukovac Vlaho Bukovac (; ; 4 July 1855 – 23 April 1922) was a Croatian painting, painter and academic. His life and work were eclecticism, eclectic, for the artist pursued his career in a variety of locales and his style changed greatly over the course ...

Hanuš Schwaiger Hanuš Johann Peter Paul Schwaiger (28 June 1854 – 17 June 1912) was a painter, designer, graphic artist and professor, best known for his fairy-tale illustrations. He was from Bohemia. Biography He was the only son of six children born to ...

and

Max Švabinský Max Švabinský (17 September 1873 – 10 February 1962) was a Czech painter, draughtsman, graphic artist, and professor in Academy of Graphic Arts in Prague. Švabinský is considered one of the more notable artists in the history of Czech pa ...

.Biographical notes
@ Osobnosti. In 1907, he and his classmate,

Emil Filla Emil Filla (4 April 1882 – 7 October 1953) was a Czech painter. He was a leader of the avant-garde in Prague between World War I and World War II and was an early Cubist painter. Early life Filla was born in Chropyně, Moravia, and spent hi ...

, joined the group "" ("The Eight"), together with

Bohumil Kubišta Bohumil Kubišta (21 August 1884 in Vlčkovice, Bohemia – 27 November 1918 in Prague)Chilvers, Ian, and John Glaves-Smith. "Kubišta, Bohumil." in ''A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art''. Oxford University Press, 2009. Oxford Reference ...

, Emil Artur Longen,

Otakar Kubín Otakar Kubín (; 22 October 1883 – 17 October 1969) was a Czech painter and sculptor. Biography Kubín was born in Boskovice, Moravia, Austria-Hungary. His works are mainly associated with Impressionism. He was influenced by such artists as V ...

Bedřich Feigl Bedřich Feigl (also known as Friedrich Feigl; 6 March 1884 – 17 December 1965) was a Czech-Jewish painter, graphic designer and illustrator. Biography Feigl studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts with Vlaho Bukovac and Franz Thiele. In 1 ...

, and . It was then that he was introduced to the newest art movements, such as

Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

and

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

. In 1911, he married the German painter, , whom he had met while travelling. Two years later,

Herwarth Walden Herwarth Walden (actual name Georg Lewin; 16 September 1879 – 31 October 1941) was a German expressionist artist and art expert in many disciplines. He is broadly acknowledged as one of the most important discoverers and promoters of German av ...

invited him, Filla, Kubin and

Vincenc Beneš Vincenc Beneš (22 January 1883 – 27 March 1979) was a Czech painter. Early life and education Beneš was born in Lišice, Hradec Králové. He studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague from 1902 to 1904 and the Acad ...

to participate in the '' Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon'' (Autumn Salon) in Berlin, where he displayed a Cubist

still-life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...

. He became a drawing teacher at a girls' school in Brno in 1924. There, in 1938, he created a monumental painting, "Prometheus Bringing Fire to Mankind" for

Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) (; ) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno, it now consists of ten faculties and 35,115 students. It is named after To ...

. During the

German Occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, he provided illustrations for a collection of folk ballads by

Karel Jaromír Erben Karel Jaromír Erben (; 7 November 1811 – 21 November 1870) was a Czech folklorist and poet of the mid-19th century, best known for his collection '' Kytice'', which contains poems based on traditional and folkloric themes. He also wrote ''Pí ...

. From 1909 to 1911, and again from 1923 to 1929, he was a member of 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 in ...

. Originally an

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

, he moved through Cubism to create his own personal form of

Neo-Classicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

. He also created some small equestrian statues of President

Tomáš Masaryk Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovaks, Czechoslovak statesman, political activist and philosopher who served as the first List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 191 ...

. In 1946, he received the posthumous title of "" (People's Artist) from the Czechoslovak Republic. A street in Brno is named after him.

Selected paintings

File:Prochazka-Violinist.jpg, The Violinist File:Antonín Procházka - Muž a žena 1915.jpg, Husband and Wife File:Prochazka-Wreath.jpg, Wreath Making File:Antonín Procházka - Prometheus 1911.jpg,

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...

Apples in the basket - still life, oil on hardboard

References

External links

The Art of Antonín Procházka
@ Très Bohèmes
ArtNet: More works by Procházka.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prochazka, Antonin 1882 births 1945 deaths Burials at Brno Central Cemetery 20th-century Czech painters Czech cubist artists Neoclassicism People from Vyškov District Czech male painters 20th-century Czech male artists Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague alumni

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links