August Švagrovský, also Augustin or Gustav (14 March 1847,

Roudnice nad Labem Roudnice nad Labem (; ) is a town in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Rep ...

- 27 June 1931,

Písek Písek (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 31,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the oldest bridge in the country. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument z ...

) was a Czech art patron and collector.

Biography

His father was a Master butcher, but became rich by opening a steam

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

and transporting wood along the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

to Germany. He attended the Business Academy in Prague and, after his father's death in 1866, joined with his brothers to operate the sawmill. Due to the after effects of the

financial panic A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and ma ...

and his tendency toward generous philanthropy, the business did not do well. In 1868, he began to be active in liberal political causes and provided wood for the construction of the National Theater, at cost. Many small, liberal journals owed their existence to his donations. He was also a major supporter of the local library. He welcomed numerous celebrities as guests to the family estate in Bechlín; including

Jan Neruda Jan Nepomuk Neruda (Czech: �jan ˈnɛpomuk ˈnɛruda 10 July 1834 – 22 August 1891) was a Czech journalist, writer, poet and art critic; one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of the " May School". Early li ...

and

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( ; ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival". He has been regarded ...

. In 1872, Neruda invited him to a meeting that found the writer,

Karel Sabina Karel Sabina (pen names include Arian Želinský and Leo Blass) (29 December 1813 – 8 November 1877) was a Czech writer and journalist. Life Karel Sabina grew up in poverty as an extramarital child of a daughter of a sugar producing factory' ...

, guilty of being a

police informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

. The role he played in the meeting is not clear, although he later said that he was not informed of its purpose in advance. In 1880, he sold his share of the company to his younger brother, Max. In 1882, he was re-registered as the owner, but chose to leave Roudnice, possibly as the result of a political dispute (he supported the

Young Czech Party The Young Czech Party (, officially National Liberal Party, ''Národní strana svobodomyslná'') was formed in the Bohemian crown land of Austria-Hungary in 1874. It initiated the democratization of Czech political parties and led to the establi ...

), and seek other employment. Unable to do so in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, he spent several years in other countries; mostly France.Galerie Roudnice: ''August Švagrovský''
/ref> As a result of his stay there, he became interested in art and, upon his return, decided to provide assistance to young Czech painters. He lived quite frugally; donating most of his resources to them. At first, he worked as a government clerk, then as a manager for the Kratochvíl company, a supplier of

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

. One of his favorite artists was

Antonín Slavíček Antonín Slavíček (16 May 1870 – 1 February 1910) was a Czech Impressionist painter. He worked mostly in the area surrounding Kameničky. Life In 1887, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, where he studied landscape painting with J ...

, whom he met and befriended in 1903.

Miloš Jiránek Miloš Jiránek (19 November 1875 — 2 November 1911) was a Czech Neo-Impressionist painter, art critic and writer. Biography Jiránek was born on 19 November 1875 in Lužec nad Vltavou. His father was a landowner and his mother came from a ...

also received support that was crucial to his career. Their paintings formed the basis of a collection that was later donated to Roudnice. As early as 1904, he laid the foundations for what would become the , by donating nine paintings to the city. In 1910, he donated 225 more. In addition to his favored artists, his donations came to include works by

Zdenka Braunerová Zdislava Rosalina Augusta Braunerová, called Zdenka (9 April 1858 – 23 May 1934) was a Czech landscape painter, illustrator and graphic artist, whose work was influenced by her connection to Paris. She was the first female member of the Mánes ...

Antonín Chittussi Antonín Chittussi (1 December 1847 in Ronov nad Doubravou – 1 May 1891, Prague) was a Czech Impressionism, Impressionist landscape and cityscape painter. Early life Chittussi was born to an Italian father from a merchant family who lived in ...

Adolf Liebscher Adolf Liebscher (11 March 1857, in Prague, Austrian Empire – 11 June 1919, in Potštejn) was a Czech history painter. Life and work After completing his education in the local schools, he went to Vienna, where he attended a three-year course ...

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 ...

and

Josef Mánes Josef Mánes (12 May 1820, Prague – 9 December 1871, Prague) was a Czech painter. Life He came from a family of painters, which included his father Antonín, his uncle and Director of the Prague Art Academy Václav, his brother Quido and ...

.
''Národní listy'' June 1926 He died, single and childless, during a summer vacation. A street in Roudnice has been named after him.

References

External links

Modern Art Gallery of Roudnice
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Svagrovsky, August 1847 births 1931 deaths 19th-century Czech businesspeople Czech art collectors Patrons of the visual arts People from Roudnice nad Labem Businesspeople from Austria-Hungary

Biography

References

Further reading

External links